


Love Above The Sewers (CHAPTER 2 & 3): The Turtle Effect *A LOVE STORY*

by Love_of_Horror



Category: Castle Rock (TV), Christine - Stephen King, IT (1990), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Addiction, Adult Eddie Kaspbrak, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Christine - Freeform, Clowns, Crazy Henry Bowers, Creepy Pennywise (IT), Derry (Stephen King), Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Sex, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Ghosts, Heartbreak, Henry Bowers Being an Asshole, Henry Bowers Lives, Henry Bowers is His Own Warning, Henry Bowers is Not That Bad, IT - Freeform, Inspired by Stephen King, Inspired by Stephen King's IT, Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mentioned Henry Bowers, Mentioned Henry Bowers's Gang, Mentioned Pennywise (IT), POV Eddie Kaspbrak, Pennywise (IT) Exists, Pennywise (IT) Lives, Romance, Sex, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak, Stephen King - Freeform, Stephen King References, Stephen King's IT References, The Losers Club Stay in Derry (IT), Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 52
Words: 223,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22579462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_of_Horror/pseuds/Love_of_Horror
Summary: In 2012, thirty-two year old Winter Callaghan and Henry Bowers haven't seen each other in four years ever since the ghosts from the sewers that followed Henry had torn them apart. Traumatic experiences and alcohol addictions caused Winter to continue on her own life without her true love, hoping he would  eventually find her again when he wins his life back.With her own traumatic experience from being stuck in the sewers when she was seventeen still haunts her, and she is trying to survive on her own without Henry by her side, how will she escape the darkness from her past and the heartbreak from leaving Henry to fight his demons? With her best friend, Eddie, by her side, will she be able to surface her head above water as they comfort each other in their lives?When Pennywise returns stronger than ever, and eight of the childhood friends have to reunite, will Henry be able to fight off the ghosts that have followed him for years? Will Henry and Winter rekindle their love?  Will all of them be able to fight the clown? With eight of them still alive, will one of them still die as the prophecy predicts?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Winter Callaghan, Henry Bowers/Winter Callaghan
Comments: 44
Kudos: 8





	1. Part 1: The Return of Pennywise

**Author's Note:**

> WHO'S READY FOR CHAPTER 2?!?!
> 
> Read Chapter 1 first:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read Chapter 1 First:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

The story begins in the middle just like how the first story began.

** Monday May 28, 2012 (10PM) **

Winter had finished up her shift at Derry General Hospital where she worked casually as a Registered Nurse (RN). This was her on-call job, as she worked part-time at Castle Rock Hospital. Castle Rock was her new city that she moved to four years ago after she left Henry. It was a two hour drive away from Derry, and as Winter didn't have a license, she would take the bus, or she would book a room in a hotel in Derry if she had another early shift at the hospital the next morning.

Winter walked over to the RN desk in the Intensive Care Unit. Just fifteen years ago she had stayed in room eleven in that unit for two weeks after being found coming out of the sewers. She had never forgotten the trauma that came with that experience.

"Are you done, Winter?" asked Cathy, one of the RN's working that night.

Winter yawned, "Yep! I'm going to catch the bus back to Castle Rock."

"Jesus... Enjoy that adventure!" she laughed. "I can't believe how insane it's been here tonight. The children's unit is full! So many kids coming from the Canal Days Festival. Some of them have limbs torn right off of them..."

The voice from Winter's memory spoke in her head. She remembered little Lily's voice, _"He ate Georgie's Arm, too..."_

Winter rubbed her eyes, trying to get the voice to go away. "That's messed up. Do they need more staff? I can stay and help." she responded.

"No, you did your twelve hours. Go home," she smiled at her.

She looked back at Cathy and weakly smiled, "Okay... Well, I'll see ya later, Alligator."

"In a while, Crocodile!" she responded.

Winter walked down the hallway in her black scrub pants and her navy blue zip-up sweater. As she continued to walk, her intuition told her to turn her head to one of the hospital rooms that had the door closed.

It was a room that was in her hallway, as she had been taking care of patients that had been given the rooms to that particular hallway that night.

She noticed the clip-board in the folder rack that hung on the wall beside the door. She blinked at it confused as everyone in that hallway had been discharged, and it was only Cathy and a couple of others RN's halls that were now occupied.

Winter picked up the clip-board and looked at the paperwork.

**Name: Henry Bowers**

**Date of Birth: May 3, 1980 (32 years old)**

**Reason For Admission: Suicide Attempt/Alcohol Poisoning**

Winter's breath got caught in her chest and her heart began to race as she read the paperwork. The face of the love of her life that she left four years ago passed through her mind. The last memories flashed in her memory of him talking to ghosts and trying to escape the voices by drinking alcohol haunted her.

 _"You have no idea how much I love you, Winter. I can't live in a world without you in it with me..."_ his words kept replaying in her head as she thought about being in that very hospital with Henry by her side.

With anxiety building up in her stomach, she opened the door to the hospital room.

She walked by the first bed that was unoccupied and walked closer to the window to the second bed. She stopped to look in the bed that was unoccupied, as well.

Confused, she looked around the empty room. There was nobody admitted in there.

"Henry?" she called towards the washroom. She knew he wouldn't have been able to walk to the washroom. If he was there, he would have been on life-support.

She wanted to be sure, though.

Winter walked to the closed washroom door and turned the knob.

When she opened the door, Henry's body fell from the ceiling and he had stopped midway as a rope around his neck snapped his neck.

Winter screamed and fell backwards, landing on the floor.

She hyperventilated as she watched Henry's body swing from side to side in between the door frame.

 _'It's not real, Winter! You're dreaming! It's the PTSD! You're just dreaming!'_ she thought to herself as she closed her eyes tightly. _'But why was his name on the clip-board?!'_

Winter slowly opened her eyes.

Henry was gone.

Winter grabbed her inhaler from her pocket and inhaled the medicine into her lungs that she had been taking for fifteen years.

She quickly got back up to her feet and left the empty room.

Walking back to the RN desk, she could still feel her heart racing in her chest with what she had just seen.

Cathy was still here, working on some patient paperwork. She looked up at Winter, "Are you okay? You look like you seen a ghost..."

Winter's pupils were wide, her face was pale, and she looked traumatized.

"My hall was all discharged, right? There was no new intakes down that hall?" she asked, wanting to know that what she saw was only a dream.

"Yeah, no new patients are being admitted down there until Susan shows up for the night shift..." she nodded, still looking questionably at Winter's face. "Even on the security camera down that hall, the last patient that went in was at 9:15PM, and it shows them leaving at 9:52PM after you stitched them up."

Winter nodded, "Okay..." She sighed, "I'm just really tired. I think I might go in the showers to wake me up before I leave."

Cathy nodded, "I haven't seen anyone go in, so they're all yours."

Winter walked down the hallway towards the showers. She had been in the showers before in that hospital, but not since she was seventeen and suffering from a 107F fever from the infections and Pneumonia she developed in the sewers.

She stepped into the bright shower room. Looking around; She had flashbacks of the hallucinations she had in that shower room when she was a teenager and was sick as a dog. She couldn't help but feel the pinch of fear in her stomach.

Before she took off her clothes for her shower, Winter grabbed her Samsung Galaxy S3 to check what she had missed during her shift in the past twelve hours.

**_'Three Missed Calls from Derry, Maine & One Unread Text Message'_ **

"Derry? Who's contacting me from here?" she asked quietly to herself.

**_'Twenty Missed Calls from Eddie Kaspbrak & Seven Unread Text Messages'_ **

"Jesus Christ, Edz! What could be so friggin' important that you're calling me twenty times and texting me seven times from out-of-state while you're working?"

Winter opened up the text messages from Eddie and skimmed through them from oldest to newest.

_9:45AM - 'You know what would have been fun?? If you came with me to New York. Driving people around and conferences has been so boring... How have you been?'_

_10:30AM - 'I know you're probably working, but check this out when you get the chance! Definitely the coolest celebrity I've ever had in the back of my limo! You're going to FLIP OUT!'_

There was a video attached of Eddie in his suit and tie standing beside Leonardo DiCaprio on the sidewalk in front of Kleinfeld.

Winter pressed play.

 _"There we go! It's recording now!"_ Eddie said to the camera as him and Leonardo looked at the screen. _"Before you leave, could you say hi to my best friend, Winter. She loves you!"_

Leonardo waved and smiled, _"Hi, Winter! I like your name! Winter's my favourite season, too! Eddie told me a little about you, and you sound like a wonderful person."_

Winter laughed as she watched the video. "No! Fucking! Way!" she exclaimed.

She continued to watch the video.

Eddie shook Leonardo's hand.

 _"It was nice meeting you, Eddie!"_ Leonardo said to him, _"Give me your card. I'll call you whenever I'm in the Maine area."_

Eddie reached into his suit pocket and smiled at him, _"Thanks for the video, Leo. I appreciate it."_

As Eddie walked back to his limo, he looked into the camera and made a silly face by blowing all the air to one side of his face which made him look like a chipmunk. Then he wiggled his eyebrows individually.

Winter smiled as she watched him make faces in silence.

_"This is why you should have come to New York with me!"_

The video ended.

"Oh, my God!" Winter blushed and smiled at the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio said hi to her.

Once she got herself back together, she continued on with skimming Eddie's messages.

_11:31AM - 'Just got off the phone with Myra yelling at me for an hour. I need to make things right soon and figure out how I'm going to leave her without her trying to destroy my entire business and wipe my bank account dry. I can't deal with this bullshit anymore! February and March were the best months of my life. I want to go back to that! Fuck all of this!'_

_12:10PM - 'You need to call me back ASAP! I'm getting on a plane to come back to Maine right now! Did Mike call you??? I fucking crashed my car when he called me!'_

"Mike? Mike who?" Winter said out-loud.

_2:01PM - 'Winter, please answer back! Which hospital are you at tonight? I really hope you're not in Derry! I'm going on the plane soon, and I'll be offline for about 7 hours. I'll text you when I land.'_

_9PM - 'Just got off the plane! I'm really fucking worried right now. Text me where you are and I'll come pick you up.'_

_"_ What's going on?" she said out-loud, feeling concerned.

Eddie had just texted her while she was looking at her phone.

_'I drove to Castle Rock Hospital... you're not there. You're in Derry tonight? If you don't answer, I'm just going to drive there anyway.'_

Winter replied back to him, _'Yeah, I'm in Derry tonight. Just got off work. About to take a shower at the hospital. What's going on? PS. Loved the DiCaprio video!!!!'_

As she exited Eddie's texts, she went to the unread message from whoever was trying to call her from Derry.

_1:00PM - 'Hey, Winter. It's Mike Hanlon. Eddie gave me your number. Call me back when you get a chance. Even if it's late when you get this, just call me back. It's urgent.'_

"Mike Hanlon?" Winter said out-loud. She shook her head from the distractions, "I need to shower."

She put her phone on the chair and undressed. She walked over to one of the shower heads and turned on the warm water and began to shampoo her hair.

As she cleaned herself, Eddie was calling her and texting her. Although she didn't know as she was listening to the water hitting the floor tiles, Eddie's newest text read, _'No! Fuck! Don't go into the showers!!! Stay in a public area! I'll be in Derry ASAP! Just stay around people!'_

As Winter showered under the hot water the scars on her stomach began to burn. She quickly looked down at them and saw blood pouring from her stomach as if they were fresh.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she exclaimed in pain and fear as she clutched her stomach.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" screamed a female voice from the shower drain.

Winter jumped at the scream and looked down towards the shower drain where the water and her light red blood was being washed away down into the sewers.

_The Derry sewers!_

Cautiously, Winter got down to her knees and leaned over the drain. She was startled and confused about the voice that just came through.

"Hello?" she said above it.

A few seconds later, the voice responded, "Please help me!"

Winter blinked confused. She felt deja-vu as she heard the girl yell back to her.

"Who's down there?" she asked.

"My name is Winter Callaghan. I've been stuck in the sewer with a clown. It killed two children named George Denbrough and Lily. Please help me! I'm getting sick and I think I might die."

Winter's breath got stuck in her lungs and her eyes went wide with shock. She began to shake and remained quiet.

 _'I remember this! I remember this!'_ Flashbacks of her at seventeen years old yelling up towards one of the drain pipes when a woman spoke into it after she met Ace came rushing back. _'I WAS TALKING TO MYSELF?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!'_ Then it dawned on Winter... This was the night before she was found, exactly fifteen years ago to the day.

"Hello? Please don't leave!" her younger self cried.

Shaking as she stared at the drain, Winter said to her seventeen-year-old self, "Winter, you're going to be okay! You're going to be led out tomorrow morning, and Jim Hopper is going to be there..." She began to cry as she remembered the day she was carried out from the sewers, "And Henry's going to be there!"

_Winter thought, 'Henry... The love of my life... I miss you so much... That little teenager in the sewers doesn't realize how haunted the both of you are going to be from the experience, and how it's going to pry the two of you apart in the future.'_

"How do you know this?" she cried.

"Trust me, I just know, okay?" Winter put her hand to her mouth as she shook and cried. "You're really sick, so don't fall asleep! Just stay awake... like how you told Georgie... just sing and don't sleep... And don't blame yourself for Georgie or Lily, okay?"

"Okay..." Seventeen-year-old Winter sobbed.

Winter sat on the shower floor shaking and crying. _'There's no way! There's no possible way I was talking to myself when I was in the sewers!'_

But it's what happened. Winter could never figure out how the woman on the other end of the pipes knew that she was going to be rescued the next day. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

As Winter reflected, it dawned on her. "I'm right above the clown's freezer! Oh, my God! I'm standing above It's home!"

Winter got back up to her feet and turned off the water. She grabbed her towel and dried herself off as she walked towards her clothes.

As she put her clothes back on, she looked down to her stomach that had just been bleeding. The scars were healed. They were still there like usual, but they healed.

She grabbed her phone and her duffel bag and left the shower room.

Winter read the last text message from Eddie and decided to call him.

There was only one dial tone before he answered on his bluetooth.

"Winter!" he exclaimed, "I've been so fucking worried!"

"Hey..." Winter said as she walked quickly down the hospital hallway and looked around as if she felt the boogeyman watching her, "Are you going to be here soon? Something real fucking strange is happening here tonight."

Eddie paused for a moment before he asked, "What have you seen?"

Winter squeezed the bridge of her nose as she tried to think of everything, "Well, for one, the kid's unit is full of kids with missing limbs. Then, before I left for my shower, I saw Henry hang himself in a hospital room. Then, during my shower, teenage me was talking to current me from the sewer drain. What's going on, Edz?"

"Fuck!" Eddie exclaimed, "Are you near people, Winter? Please don't be by yourself."

"I'm walking in the hospital, just heading to the waiting room. I'll be around people when I..."

Winter stopped talking as a woman in her seventies with long grey hair walked in front of her. This caught her attention, because Winter had been having dreams for the past three and a half years of that exact woman stuck in the sewers with her. She always wore the same clothes; A pink fitted sweater and black leggings. She had a black jacket on that had _"Derry High"_ written at the back, and she looked like she hadn't showered in years. Winter continued to watch her walk in front silently as she stayed on the phone with Eddie.

"Winter? What happened? Are you still there?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah... Yeah... I'm here..." Winter was distracted and followed the woman from her dreams.

Eddie became concerned, "What's going on?"

"You know that lady I told you about from my night-terrors? The one that's always stuck in the sewers with me?"

"Y-Yeah... The old woman?" Eddie answered nervously.

"She's walking in front of me..."

Eddie began to panic, "I'll be there in a couple of minutes, Winter! Don't follow her!"

The phone had begun to crackle out.

"The phone's cutting out, Edz. What did you say?" she asked.

Eddie kept repeating, "Don't follow her!" But the phone was crackling out and Winter could only hear him say, "Follow her!"

The phone died.

As Eddie continued to drive, he said into his bluetooth after he heard the disconnection, "Winter?!" The phone beeped. He hit his steering wheel, "FUCK!" As he continued to call her back, the signal continued to drop.

When the call dropped, she quickly looked perplexed at her screen that showed there were no signal bars left.

"Dammit!" she whispered to herself. She quickly stuffed her phone in her duffel bag and moved her damp long hair back as she followed the old woman from her dreams.

The dreams started after she left Henry and moved to Castle Rock. She only appeared in sewer dreams, when she was walking in the sewers, but this lady was never in the sewers with her when she was a teenager. She had no idea how her imagination created this older woman, but she dreamed of her so frequently.

The old woman continued to walk in front of her, going straight down the hallway. As she walked, she left a trail of sewer water behind her. She was soaking wet.

"Excuse me?" Winter called to the lady.

The woman just continued to walk without paying attention to Winter behind her.

As Winter had her attention on following the woman, a group of nurses came out of a room that was occupied by a man who was crying in hysterics.

"We've got to give this man a sedative!" one of the nurses that Winter never met said to the group as they walked away.

Winter's attention broke from the older woman as she continued to walk silently down the hall to the man sitting up in the bed that the nurses were just tending to.

"WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!" the man with the cuts and bruises cried from the bed, "THE CLOWN ATE MY BOYFRIEND! I WATCHED HIM EAT HIM AND NO ONE IS FUCKING LISTENING TO ME!"

Images of Pennywise flashed through her memory. She remembered the monster with animal-like features and movements haunting her.

_"I am the eater of worlds! I am the eater of children!"_

Winter's face dropped and she felt numb as she walked into the room with the man crying on the bed.

The man looked up from his shaking hands at Winter, "Why won't anyone FUCKING listen to me?!"

She could feel herself shaking as she pulled up a chair and sat herself in front of him. She rested her arms on her thighs and leaned in to show that she was open to listen to the man who was traumatized.

He looked at her face and saw that she looked scared, "Oh, my God! You believe me?! You know what I'm talking about?!"

Winter continued to stare at him, "A clown ate your boyfriend?" she repeated. "What happened? What did It... The clown... look like?"

The man tried to speak calmly, trying his best to keep from crying, "Adrian and I were just at Canal Days. We were on the bridge above the Barrens where a few fuckers beat him up. They threw him into the river..." His lower lip began to quiver as he went on, "When I went closer, I saw him floating to a clown that looked like he was pulling him towards him - like magic!"

Winter placed her hand to her mouth as she began to shake with fear. Her stomach was tying into knots from anxiety and she felt like she was falling as she didn't feel steady with the ground underneath her.

"He picked him up and the clown's face morphed into... into..." he couldn't find the word.

"Like a shark? Mouth full of razor-sharp teeth?" Winter finished for him.

Adrian began to cry again, "I watched him eat my boyfriend right in front of me! Then the Barren's filled up with hundreds of red balloons!"

Winter's eyes went wide and she felt like her sense of self was disappearing. She could feel a range of emotions taking over but she couldn't focus on which emotion was stronger. All the emotions came from fear and trauma.

She blinked her eyes tightly, trying to come back to her senses and talk to this traumatized man. "My name's Winter. What's yours?" was the first thing that came out of her.

"Don..." he looked deeply into her eyes, "I see the trauma in your eyes when I talk about it. Are you the only one in this town that believes me?"

Winter quickly got up on her feet and raised her sweater to show Don her three large claw scars on her stomach. "That same thing that killed your boyfriend did this to me when I was seventeen. I was stuck in the sewers with that clown for three days."

Don blinked as he stared at the scars and looked back up at her face. He blinked away more tears as realization hit him, "You're Winter Callaghan..." it dawned on him, "You were in the Maine newspaper for weeks..." He looked at her kind of relieved, "So I'm not going crazy?"

Winter shook her head as she put her sweater back down, "Not at all... And don't let the nurses, the town, the police or anyone make you think that you're crazy! There was only one cop in this dumpster town that believed me. It was Officer Jim Hopper. Unfortunately, he passed away about six years ago..."

"You're a nurse and you believe me..." he said quietly.

Winter looked to the ground as she quickly thought of Officer Jim Hopper and then looked back up at Don, "Officer Hopper told me when I was scared that he wouldn't believe me that there are a lot of sane people in this town with the same insane stories. I'm one of those people. Just know that the cops and the hospital will try to put a label on you as insane, so I just want you to know that everything you told me is off the record..." he continued to stare into her eyes and noticed her pain and sincerity. "If you need to talk, just call me..." she handed him a card with her name and number on it. "I'm so sorry about your boyfriend."

He took the card and wiped a tear from his cheek, "Thank you, Winter. I'm sorry that you had to go through everything that you went through back in '97."

She weakly smiled at him.

The phone in her duffel bag began to vibrate. As Winter walked out of the hospital room, she looked at the caller ID on her phone. It was the same Derry, Maine number calling from earlier -- Mike Hanlon.

"Hello?" she said when she put her phone to her ear. "Mike?"

"Hey, Winter..." His tone was friendly, yet it was terrified too.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I was going to call you back, but I'm just getting out of work and got distracted," she said as she leaned her back against the wall in the hallway.

"No worries, Winter."

 _'This is where you're going to tell me that the clown is back...'_ she thought as she anxiously closed her eyes.

"Winter, It's back..." he said cautiously, "You and Henry never promised like the rest of us did, but I wanted to see if you wanted to help us fight It again? We will be sure to destroy It this time."

"Um..." Hearing him say it made reality hit really hard. "Have you talked to Henry? Is he going?"

"Yeah, he's going to come," Mike said.

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose and thought about seeing Henry after four years after having no contact. She felt guilty for not staying with him during his most difficult time in his life, but after two years of trying to deal with him being haunted by Ace, Vic and Belch and dealing with the ghosts by drinking the voices away, made it hard for her to stay. Tears began to build up in her eyes as she kept her eyes closed... She wanted to see him so bad... She wanted the man who she grew up with back, before Jim Hopper, Will Hopper, and Earl Bowers died in a car crash and before the ghosts attached themselves to him and tried to get inside of his head.

"Are you still there, Winter?" Mike asked after she fell silent.

Winter opened her eyes and quickly wiped the tears away, "Yeah, I'll come."

As Winter continued to lean against the wall in the hallway, she noticed Eddie running up the hall, looking in all direction for her until he saw her leaning against the wall. He ran up to her still wearing his work attire and looking stressed out.

She was happy to see him after everything that had happened that night.

Winter wrapped her arm around his shoulders with her other hand still holding the phone to her ear. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

"Sounds good, Winter. I'll text you the details, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good, Mike. I'll see you tomorrow..." she pressed the end button on the phone and wrapped her other arm around Eddie's shoulders.

Winter pressed her face against the side of his neck as he hugged her even tighter.

"What a fucking terrible day! I was having a panic attack the whole way here and went through nearly my whole inhaler!" Edz said into her neck. "You don't have to do this, Winter. You didn't make the promise,"

Winter took a moment to think about it, "You're going, Edz... Henry's going, too... This clown stole my whole life away..."

Eddie unwrapped his arms from her waist and she unwrapped herself from his shoulders. He looked at her closely, and Winter could see the worry in his expression, "We need to get out of here."

Winter put her bag over her shoulder as her and Eddie walked down the hallway, "I want to quickly go grab some medical supplies from our inventory room."

"Are you allowed to do that?" Eddie asked as they approached the room with the key-card lock on it. It was tight security to get access to the room, but the windows were huge and all the drugs on the racks could be seen by anyone who walked by.

"Nope!" Winter answered quickly, "But, thankfully there's no cameras guarding the door. I think maybe the security guards are junkies and go in here to steal drugs."

Eddie looked at her surprised and then said sarcastically, "Oh! Great! That's reassuring!"

Winter couldn't help but smile at his sarcasm. Just his facial expressions and things he would say could make her smile.

"Just wait out here and guard. I'll be quick..." she reassuringly smiled at him.

"Yeah... Guard... I can do that..." he said worried with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

Winter could sense how uneasy he felt being in Derry with just the two of them after the news of the clown just broke out. "Hey, Edz..." she grabbed onto his shoulders and smiled at him, "I'll be two seconds. You can even wave to me from the glass windows. We can even play charades while I'm in there."

Eddie laughed at the image of the two of them playing charades in such a stressful situation, "Jesus Christ! How come you can always make me laugh when I'm stressing out?"

Winter smiled and shrugged, "It's a gift, I guess!"

"Uh-Huh!" he expressed with a comical expression, "Your gifts are definitely unique, I'll tell you that much!"

Winter shook her head and giggled. "I'll be a couple of minutes!" She swiped her key-card and went into the drug inventory room. The room wasn't big like a pharmacy's inventory room would be, but it had everything the hospital needed.

She looked around for gauze, pain killers, stitches, needles...

Eddie knocked on the glass window.

Winter looked over at him.

He held up two fingers.

Winter giggled and yelled so he could hear her, "Two words!"

He gave her a thumbs up. He rolled an invisible camera.

"Movie!"

He nodded and smiled.

She continued to glance over at him while she was picking out more supplies that the group would need.

He held up one finger.

"First word!"

She continued to watch Eddie as he began to throw punches at the air, like he was fighting somebody. He pretended to punch himself and dramatically fell to the ground as he continued to make it look like he was beating himself up.

"What the fuck?!" Winter broke out laughing. "It's gotta be Fight Club!"

He gave her a thumbs up and a smile from the ground.

Winter continued to giggle as she picked out more medical supplies. She was happy that Eddie was there to put some light in the stressful situation.

As Eddie waited outside the room, he looked up and down the hallway to make sure no one was going to be walking by soon. He didn't want Winter to lose her job for stealing.

He jumped at the sound of tapping at the glass window.

When Eddie looked over, he was face to face with Stan on the other side of the glass in the inventory room. It was Stan as a kid, looking the way he last remembered him. He looked different, though; His skin was blue, almost like ice. Eddie thought that he looked dead as he stood there, smiling a very toothy smile at Eddie.

"Hey, Speghettiman!" he said very raspy, like it wasn't his voice, "I guess I was one of the two who was supposed to die! Do you want to be the next?"

Eddie began to panic and inhaled from his inhaler.

Stan disappeared.

Eddie looked over to where Winter was and saw her picking more supplies. He became distracted and noticed a tall evil shadow walking over to her.

It was the clown!

Eddie began pounding on the glass with his hand, "WINTER!"

Winter shot her head over to Eddie who was panicking and trying to open the door, but the lock was too secure that he wouldn't be able to open it without a card.

"Edz?" she said nervously, feeling like she was going to cry. She was too scared from his expression to turn her head towards the direction that she could feel a presence.

"WINTER, GET OUT OF THERE!" Eddie yelled.

Winter stood frozen as her lips began to quiver, scared to move or look over to whatever was standing in front of her.

Slowly, she turned her head.

The clown smiled at her standing at seven feet tall, wearing the same colourful clown outfit that she remembered as a kid. Its makeup was the same, and the force coming from It felt stronger than It ever did, as if It became stronger as It slept for the years that passed.

As Winter stood frozen, she looked into Its eyes. She never remembered feeling this scared when she saw the clown before. It gave her the impression that It wanted revenge on her for sedating It in the sewers fifteen years ago. Then the thought dawned on her, why did the clown wake up so much earlier? It's been fifteen years, not twenty-seven...

"FUCK! WINTER!" Eddie panicked. He tried to hit and kick the glass as hard as he could so it would break. He was punching the glass so hard that his knuckles began to bleed.

Winter continued to stare into the clown's eyes as Its pupils began to turn into lights.

The dead lights.

Winter felt hypnotized and she was no longer in control of her actions.

"Fill it up!" the clown directed her.

Winter grabbed a syringe and needle and a vile of Fentanyl. As she continued to look into the clown's dead lights, she pushed the needle threw the lid of the vile and pulled the opioid into the syringe.

Eddie looked up from the window he was trying to break and saw Winter hypnotized with the full syringe in her hand.

"NO!!!" he screamed.

He didn't know what else to do. He wondered what could make the locks unlock without a special key card.

It quickly dawned on him what he needed to do. He ran over just a few feet down the hallway and pushed down on the fire alarm.

The loud alarms sounded off in the hospital.

Eddie ran back over to the supplies room, and was relieved that the door was unlocked.

Winter had tilted her head to the side and was about to stick the syringe into her neck. Eddie ignored the clown directing her what to do and grabbed her and her hand before she killed herself under the clown's orders. He threw the syringe to the floor.

He put his arm around her as he ran her out of the inventory room and walked her down the hall before any nurses, administration, security or doctors came by and found them acting suspiciously. Eddie led her out the first exit door outside to get away from the loud alarms going off in the building.

He put both hands on her shoulders and looked at her as she was beginning to wake up from her trance. "Winter, are you okay? You didn't get the needle in your neck, right?" He brushed his thumb against the side of her neck that she was about to insert the needle into and looked closely for any needle marks.

She shook her head still disoriented, "No... No... I'm fine..."

Eddie continued to look at her with worry in his eyes. He had vaguely remembered scary moments with the clown, but that was by far, the scariest. He cared about her a lot and the thought of her nearly dying made his heart race.

He continued to stare deeply into her eyes.

She stared back into his, "You saved my life..." she said.

Eddie put one hand to her cheek and rubbed her skin with his thumb. He really wanted to say, _"fuck it!"_ and just kiss her there for everyone to see.

As he thought about it, one of the doctors he knew walked out from the building. It was one of Eddie's specialists named Doctor Clarkson.

"Hi, Eddie!" Doctor Clarkson waved.

Eddie took a step back from Winter and smiled at the doctor and nodded.

"Good thing you're out here and not in there with all the alarms going off. Someone must have pulled it by accident," said the doctor. "How your wife? Myra, right?" he asked.

Winter rolled her eyes at the mention of the name and looked towards the streets.

Pretending that everything was okay, Eddie faked a smile and said, "Good... She's good."

Later that night, Eddie and Winter had arrived to Winter's home in Castle Rock after driving for nearly two hours. She lived in a fancy walk-out basement apartment in a mansion that was owned by a famous actor and his wife. She had met the famous married couple when she was applying to be a home care nurse, and she would look after this famous actor's mother. And since she had been a Veterinarian for five years, she would also caretake the animals they owned.

Winter walked into her apartment with Eddie close behind her. She quickly turned on all the lights and they headed towards her kitchen, which was an open kitchen and attached to the living room.

Winter slouched her body over the island in her kitchen and rubbed her face, "Jesus! I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight."

Eddie sat on a barstool at the island and stared at her as she sighed.

She took her hands away from her face and looked at him, "Will you stay the night with me?" She hoped he would.

Eddie's eyes expressed sadness and he looked like he didn't want to give the answer he was going to give her, "You know I can't... When I crashed the company car in New York, the insurance company called my house. Myra knows I'm back in Maine."

Winter got back up from her slouching position and put her attention on a spill on the counter and grabbed a towel to clean it. "I hate this, Edz... I feel like a Goddamn home wrecker."

Eddie looked at her seriously, "My home was wrecked before we even ran into each other in January, Winter. I was separating from her when you and I began hanging out together."

Winter continued to keep her attention on cleaning the counter, "It doesn't even matter if you were separating back then. As of right now, for over a month, I've been _'the other woman',_ the _'side chick', the 'Mistress'._ I'm getting tired of us having an actual relationship behind closed doors, but once we're in public, anyone that knows you and Myra could be watching. I turn from being the best relationship you say you've ever had, and the best sex you've ever had, to being introduced as your best friend, Winter."

Eddie put his hand through his hair and sighed. "You're not a side chick, the other woman, or a mistress, Winter. Myra has me by my balls right now! She's planning to destroy my whole business, which she co-owns, if I bring up separation or divorce again," he said frustrated.

Winter glanced up at him and noticed his frustration, "I'm just saying that I hate having just half of you. I want all of you."

Eddie continued to look at her admiringly, "You will once I make things right... Will I have all of you, though?"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused, but she knew what he was talking about.

"You're still not over Henry. I understand and accept that you'll never love me like you loved him. I just want to know that, when we do make our relationship official, that you'll be over him..." he brought up. 

She knew that's what he was going to bring up and he was right.

She sighed, "It's been four years... I need to move on. When you were separating back in February and March, you had all of me. We were so happy."

He nodded, "I know we were... I want to go back to that..."

"Now I don't even know if that's going to happen with your mom and Myra on your back about staying married. I can't sneak around forever. It makes me feel like shit. Unless you're back from leaving Maine a day early, you basically just fuck me and bail so you're not home too late..." she said sadly. "It makes me feel used."

Eddie looked at her in disbelief and got up from the bar stool, "Why would you think that? I've been in love with you since I was a kid! It fucking hurts to hear you say that!"

Winter sighed, "Well, I do, Edz! I'm trying my hardest to move on from Henry, and when I think I'm moving on with you there supporting me by coming over, and we confide in each other, It makes me feel so amazing and happy... But, then when I'm alone, and I remember that you're leaving me to go home and be with your wife, I feel like garbage."

"Hey!" he walked over to her, "I'm going to make things right, okay? I'm going to figure it out so it can be just the two of us!" He placed his hand on her cheek and stroked her chin. "I don't like hearing you call yourself that because of me. I'm trying to figure out how I can do this."

As Winter stared into his eyes with Eddie so close to her, she didn't want to argue about it anymore. All she wanted was to feel again; To feel alive with love and happiness. She spent almost four years numb and depressed. It wasn't until Eddie showed up in her life after not seeing him for sixteen years that she actually began to feel like herself again, even for a little while. Even though her mind and heart would travel back to Henry, at least she felt something rather than numbness and depression when Eddie was around.

She placed her hand on top of his hand that was on her cheek and softly kissed his fingers. She looked at him, "I just want to feel things again, Edz. Some days I feel like I'm still alone, walking around in the sewers, but then you make me feel things I thought I could never feel again since Henry and I broke up. You're like my light out of the darkness..." she paused and stared at him, "But then I remember that you're married... And that just takes over away all the great feelings I get when I'm around you."

He stared lovingly at her, "Fuck, Winter, I'm going to do everything I can to make things right. Just please give me more time."

He kissed her lips passionately, the way she taught him right before they had sex for the first time in February. He parted her lips open and snuck his tongue into her mouth and played with her tongue.

She put her hands through his hair and felt herself getting turned on. She brought her leg up to his hip and he pulled it up further as he thrusted his crotch into hers. She could feel the bulge from his boner on her pelvis.

He ran one of his hands up the front of her sweater and squeezed her breast. As he did so, he pushed his waist more into hers.

His cell phone rang in his pocket.

He parted from her and said, "Just ignore it."

Eddie grabbed her waist and picked her up so she was sitting on the island. He zipped down her sweater, pulled it off of her, and then slid her tank top over her head and he placed it on one of the bar stools. He grabbed the side of her head and kissed her passionately again.

His phone began ringing again.

He looked down and sighed, "Fuck!"

Winter spoke annoyed, "You should get it..."

Eddie met her gaze with the same sadness in his eyes. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and answered it, "Hi, Myra."

Winter could hear the female voice from the other end.

_"Eddie, it's past one in the morning! Where are you?"_

"I had to pick up my friend from the hospital."

She sighed, _"You're supposed to be home with me! Because of you, our car insurance is going to go up, the house hasn't been cleaned in a week, laundry isn't done, and the trash hasn't been taken out!"_

Winter thought, ' _Why can't you do most of those things on that list, bitch?'_

"I know! I know! I'm coming home now. I'll take out the trash when I get in!" Eddie looked embarrassed. "Bye, Myra."

_"No, Eddie! Say, 'I love you, Myra!'"_

Eddie shut his eyes tightly and all the wrinkles showed on his forehead. He looked like he was about to explode. Tensely, he said, "I love you, Myra."

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

Winter stared at him as she was still sitting on the kitchen table in just her bra and pants.

They remained in silence until Winter pulled him over to her and put her hands in his hair. He was so embarrassed and ashamed that he continued to look down at the ground. She put her forehead to his, "Hey, Edz..." she said softly. He slowly looked up to her eyes; "Thank you for saving my life tonight. What you did was really heroic."

He put his hands to her waist and kissed her lips a couple of times. He looked at her again, "You're the only person who's ever made me feel like a man."

She softly smiled at him, "I've always seen you as a man, Edz." She kissed his lips again. "You should get going, though."

He sadly nodded, "I guess I should..." he kissed her forehead, "I'll pick you up at around 2PM. We can drive to Derry and meet the others for dinner." He kissed her one last time before grabbing his keys from the counter.

"See you tomorrow," Winter said as he approached the door to leave.

He looked at her, "Try to get some sleep, Winter. I'm so sorry I can't stay."

Once Eddie had left and Winter was left all alone in her apartment, she could feel the emptiness of the place. She quickly looked around and feared that she would be going another night without sleep. Sleep had become her enemy after leaving Henry four years ago. Nearly every night, she would wake up from a night-terror that would involve the sewers or Henry.

She loved and adored Eddie, but whenever night came and she was alone, her mind always drifted back to Henry. It had been so unfair the way things ended between them as Ace, Vic and Belch terrorized him, trying to get him to finish what the clown wanted him to do. In revenge for helping the losers fight the clown fifteen years ago, Vic, Belch and Ace killed Henry's dad and his uncles, Jim and Will. Every man in his life was gone within a matter of seconds. Drinking only helped him so much to mute the voices of Vic, Belch and Ace in his head. If it weren't for those three ghosts, Henry and Winter would have gotten married and had a family and lived happily ever after together.

As Winter cried while she sat on the island in her kitchen, she grabbed her phone to distract herself. She had barely checked her social media accounts, as Eddie only taught her about Facebook when they started hanging out in January. She never became attached to the social media world. She kept her profile very private and inactive.

For the first time in a long time, she checked her Facebook Messenger. 

Her attention was caught right away by an unread message that was there since the night before:

 **Henry Bowers:** _'I'm not sure if you're the Winter Callaghan I'm looking for since there are hundreds on here. If you are, I hope you message me back.'_

Winter stared wide-eyed at the message. She realized that he messaged her a day before anyone even knew that the clown was back and that they were all going to meet again. She wondered how long he had been looking for a way to contact her.

Thoughts kept crossing her mind as she read the message and looked at his profile photo: Is he sober now? Is Vic, Belch and Ace still harassing him?

She bit her lip and pressed down on her keyboard:

_'Hi, Henry. It's me.'_


	2. Part 2: Inside Winter's Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! We are at Part 2! I hope you are all enjoying it so far! I know it's much darker so far than CHAPTER 1, but it becomes lighter :) 
> 
> DON'T FORGET TO READ CHAPTER 1 FIRST:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**__  
  
It takes but one person, one moment, one conviction, to start a ripple of change in the universe that we know of. This ripple creates alternate universes for the ones they love." **

** Tuesday December 22, 2008 **

Henry walked in the living room of his brother, Robert's, basement apartment. After Winter left, Robert took Henry in to live with him in his basement apartment so he could have close eye on his depressed, alcoholic brother who just had the woman he loved for eleven years leave him. 

Henry was alone, or so he thought he was; He was never really alone. 

Henry paced back and forth, thinking of everything he had lost because of the clown and the ghosts that clung themselves to him after the men in his family were killed. 

He didn't blame Winter for leaving, as she was put through a lot with Vic, Ace and Belch making him lose his sanity, but he didn't remember a world where Winter didn't exist. They had been together nearly everyday since they were sixteen, and now she was gone, leaving a big empty hole in Henry's life. 

He spent a week after she left in his bed, unable to get up, and trying to numb his pain and the voices of the ghosts with endless bottles of Rum and Whiskey. He always thought back to the time when he was looking for Winter in 1997, and met Vic and Belch, who gave him his first bottle of Rum. From that moment on, in a slowly developing tornado within himself, that's what he used to cope with situations he didn't know how to control or handle. 

Henry took gulps of the Rum bottle as he continued to pace. The more he got use to drinking, the less it worked in shutting out Vic, Belch and Ace. It was starting to seem like no type of substances could silence them and make them disappear. When Winter was home with him, they were never there, at least not that he could see. He just wanted his angel back.

"She's gone, Henry. You've got to accept your fate... Now you have nothing holding you back from finishing what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to kill those seven. The prophecy is not finished yet," Ace said as he leaned against the wall in the living room and sharpened his knife. 

"You're lucky we never killed her, man!" Vic said as he watched Henry pace and drink from his bottle, "We had to kill your dad and uncles! It was what Mr. Gray wanted us to do to get you to start doing your job! You're being a little pussy, Henry. It's really not that hard to kill. Once you feel the rush of control it gives you, the other six will be easy to finish off." 

"I hurt her... Because of you guys, I hurt Winter!" Henry stopped and looked at the group of them with his bloodshot eyes from alcohol and tears, "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! Just leave me the fuck alone! You've ruined my whole life!" 

Ace stepped up towards him, "I told you, Henry! You and I are the same soul! We are connected. You can't split something that is connected." 

Henry looked at him, "I've never been connected to you. You're just trying to fuck with my head again!" 

Ace licked his lips, becoming frustrated, "You know, Henry... Sometimes I wish I took over your body when you were having sex with Winter. Maybe if I was the one fucking her, she would still be here." 

Henry put up his arm in fury and pushed Ace up to the wall, pinning his neck against the wall with his arm. As he looked into Ace's malicious smile, Henry saw red as he was so angry, "I'm going to find a way to kill you. I know you're already dead, but I will find a way! I'm going to make all you fuckers disappear. I lost my dad, my uncles, and now Winter's gone; It's all your faults!"

Ace continued to stare at him, wanting to egg him on, "We're not the ones who threw the bottle of booze at Winter's shoulder, Henry... That was you... And that's why she left. You were starting to become dangerous." 

Henry became more angry and pushed his arm more into Ace's neck, "That's because you tricked me! I threw it at YOU, but then you weren't there and it was... it was her..." Henry's eyes filled up with tears. He thought about how the bottle hit her chest and shoulder so hard when she opened the apartment door where Ace had been standing. The bottle hit her so hard that it shattered glass through her skin and caused her shoulder to dislocate. He looked back at Ace, "You took everything away from me! You guys and that fucking clown!"

Vic and Belch went up to Henry with Ace pinned to the wall, "Don't make threats, Henry... We can still find Winter and end her life like we did with your dad and uncles..." Vic smiled at him as Belch chuckled. 

Henry could feel his heart racing furiously. He took his arm away from Ace's neck and went back to pacing the floor. He wiped his red eyes and thought about Winter. He still couldn't believe she was gone and it was his fault.

"It's time to move on, Bowers..." Belch said, "You've checked the hospital, checked with your mom, checked with her parents, and no one's giving you answers. For all you know, she might be dead in a ditch somewhere..." 

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Henry yelled at him. 

As the three ghosts watched Henry; He looked over to Kyle the Turtle in his tank. He was looking at Henry and appeared to be glowing white. With Henry's impaired judgement, he didn't know if what he was seeing or hearing was real, but he could hear the turtle talking to him in his head. 

_"Henry, I can fix this for you..."_ the turtle whispered in Henry's mind. 

Henry kept his eyes on the turtle as It talked. Henry thought towards it so the others couldn't hear, _"How?"_

_"You already know how..."_

Henry quickly looked up to the ceiling and kept his attention on the light fixture hanging on the ceiling. In the corner of the room was the rope he stored in case he ever needed to secure anything in the back of his pick-up truck. The only thing that came to him was that he needed to end his own life to kill off Ace, Belch and Vic. 

_"Trust me, Henry... It will ripple the universe that you live in, but you will be free and Winter will be safe from them... But, be aware that your actions will ripple in this universe and it will cause timelines to cross that were going to happen in the future, and events will happen sooner than when they were destined to happen... You might be able to fix it and put the universe back on the right axis when the time is right..."_ The turtle whispered. 

Henry didn't understand exactly what the turtle was telling him, but he wanted the three ghosts to leave him in peace and for Winter to be safe. He figured, in time, he would know what the turtle meant. He believed his purpose in life was to keep Winter safe whether she was with him or not, and whether he was dead or alive. 

Henry took one more shot from his bottle of Rum, and then set it on the table. 

He grabbed the rope from the floor and tied a loop around it. He stepped onto the coffee table and tied a knot to the light fixture. 

Ace, Belch and Vic stepped towards Henry. 

"Henry, you can't do this! If you kill yourself, you're not keeping Winter safe at all!" Ace said to him. 

Henry didn't believe him, like he didn't believe most of the things they told him. However, whenever they mentioned killing Winter, he always retreated back into a broken man who didn't know who to believe anymore. 

_"Trust me..."_ the turtle whispered to him. 

"Don't do it, Henry!" Vic yelled. 

Henry wrapped the rope around his neck, closed his eyes, and stepped off from the coffee table. 

"NO!" Ace, Belch and Vic yelled when the rope caught Henry midway. 

He dangled there by his neck. 

The rope only held Henry for a few seconds before his weight took a chunk of the ceiling out and he dropped to the floor unconscious. 

Robert saw the floor beneath him give out when he was with his friends in the living room above the basement and heard the loud crash. 

He looked down the hole in the ceiling, "HENRY! CALL 911!" he yelled to one of his friends as he ran down the stairs to the basement. 

Robert held Henry's lifeless body in his arms and cried, yelling at him to wake up. 

As Robert held his brother, the turtle was turning white and glowing with a white light. 

** Sunday January 22, 2012 **

_The rope held onto Henry by his neck and he swayed from side-to-side unconscious._

_The old woman appeared. Even in the dream, she smelt like sewage. Her face was right in front of Winters; "You need to wake up, Winter!"_

Winter woke up abruptly from her sleep and screamed from the dream she has had over fifty times since she was seventeen. She never understood why she would dream of Henry killing himself, but it haunted her even when they were in a relationship for ten years. Then that unexplainable woman who always showed up and told Winter to wake up. It was always the same thing... she would appear at the end of the dream and tell her to wake up. 

Winter turned on her bedside light and grabbed her glasses. She grabbed her inhaler and inhaled her medicine. She sat in her bed and tried her hardest to calm down and stop panicking. 

Her mind kept wandering back to her dream of Henry dangling from the ceiling by his neck. Since Winter and Henry hadn't contacted each other in four years, she wasn't entirely sure if he was alive, if he was okay, or if he got his life back together. She figured, though, that his mom, Robert or Sally would try to contact her if something was wrong. When she moved to Castle Rock, she had no cell phone, she didn't tell Henry where she went, and she had no idea how to contact Henry or where he was, whether he stayed in Pittsburgh or moved to another state. 

Winter got up from her bed and ran towards her washroom. She lifted the toilet bowl seat and threw up. The panic from the dream made her sick, which happened a lot. 

She coughed up more vomit and dry-heaved, but nothing else was coming up. 

She flushed the toilet and put down the toilet bowl. She sat in the corner of the bathroom floor and continued to cry. 

For the past four years, Winter only felt sorrow for leaving Henry behind. There was lots of grief from the break up and she couldn't find meaning in her life anymore. She felt like she was an empty vessel walking around in a meaningless existence. She couldn't figure out how to feel joy, happiness, love, find purpose, or anything hopeful anymore. There were too many overwhelming emotions that made her feel like the world beneath her was crumbling. 

Winter grabbed her Silk razor from the sink and put the blades to her arm. She pursed her lips as tears fell down her cheeks and she was daring herself to let the blades pierce her skin. She didn't want to kill herself, but she wanted to feel pain, so she could feel something other than the mental pain. 

Winter continued to hold the blades to her skin, "Feel something!" she cried to herself. 

She struggled to keep herself together as she held the blade. She threw it against the wall and it fell into the tub. She continued to cry for a few more minutes as she sat with her knees to her chest. 

When she had the strength, she got back up to her feet and walked into her open kitchen and living room. She flicked on the lights to her kitchen and then turned on the living room lights. 

She looked out her screen-glass door and saw the darkness of the sky. It was 3AM, and after that dream, Winter had no intension of going back to sleep. 

She stared over at her kitchen as she stood in between her kitchen and living room. There were no emotions that went through her and she stared at the room with her pupils wide as she had a flashback in hers and Henry's own kitchen when they were happily living in their apartment in Pittsburgh together back before the grief of his dad and uncles, the ghosts, and the alcohol took over Henry's life. 

_Winter walked in the kitchen and set her purse on the kitchen table. She had just gotten out of work at the vet clinic for the day. She yawned and looked over to the freshly baked cupcakes on a plate on the counter._

_She walked over to the chocolate goodness and picked one up to have a bite._

_"Hey!" Henry grabbed her from behind and wrapped her up in his arms._

_Winter nearly jumped and almost dropped the cupcake to the floor from the spook._

_Henry let out a laugh at her startle and kissed her cheek, "I caught a little cupcake thief!"_

_Winter giggled and leaned her body back into him. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked towards his face, "What inspired you to come home from work and bake cupcakes?"_

_"You..." he tilted her face towards his and kissed her lips._

_"I thought you said I'm already sweet enough?" she smiled as she took a dab of icing on her finger and licked the sugary icing off of it._

_"You are, but who can resist chocolate?" Henry smiled._

_"My weakness..." she dabbed her finger back in the icing and put it towards Henry's lips, "Besides you, of course."_

_Henry quickly put his mouth to her finger and licked up the icing._

_He let her go out of his grip and took her hands in his, "Actually, there is a reason why I baked today. There's something I needed to do that I haven't done yet."_

_Winter looked at him questionably, "What is it?" she wondered._

_He wrapped one of his arms back around her waist as he leaned down so his lips were to her ear. Sweetly, he whispered, "Look at the cupcake in the middle with the green icing... What do you see?"_

_Winter grabbed the cupcake in the middle and the first thing she noticed, aside from the bright green icing, was the sparkle from an engagement ring on the top._

_Winter gasped, "BABE!" She looked at him with excitement in her eyes, "But we're already engaged!"_

_Henry grinned from her excitement, "But I never got you a ring, and I told you I would one day."_

_Henry took the ring from the cupcake and held it in-between his fingers as he got down on one knee._

_"Oh, my God!" Winter smiled. She thought back to when he purposed to her in the Barrens when they were seventeen. Now they were twenty-four and he was purposing with an actual ring. Although they wanted to get married straight out of high school, they realized that finances, school and saving up for a wedding wasn't as easy as they thought it would be._

_"I don't care if it's in a year, five years, ten years..." he re-thought his words, "It will be less than ten years, so I'll just stop calling out numbers there..."_

_Winter giggled as a tear slid down her cheek._

_"Winter, will you marry me and be with me forever?" he asked._

_"Yeah, Henry... I will..."_

Winter continued to stare wide-eyed at her kitchen from the flashback. She rubbed her ring finger where the ring use to stay until the day she left it on Henry's dresser with a note that explained that she will wait for him to get sober and beat his demons, but she had to leave. She still didn't know if she would be waiting forever, or if he would one day find her, or if they would run into each other one day. She still wanted to be with him forever, but needed him to get help without her around as the ghosts were becoming dangerous.

Winter got dressed and left her apartment in the middle of the night. She walked down the street towards the twenty-four-hour coffee house. It was a cold night and Winter could see her breath every time she exhaled. 

The streets were dead as all the souls in Castle Rock were fast asleep, resting for the working day ahead. Winter envied the community as they slept, as she hadn't had a decent night sleep in four years. 

After Winter grabbed her large coffee from the regular night-shift employees that knew her by name and knew her coffee drink without her having to tell them, she walked across the empty street to the tattoo and piercing studio that was there. There was only one guy who worked there at night, Jackson. He knew Winter, as he was working on a flower tattoo on the left side of her chest towards her shoulder to cover up the scars from the shattered glass bottle. She also went in frequently to get piercings on her ears. It had become her way of coping when she felt numb. The pain would temporarily shoot her back to life. 

"Have a seat, Winter," Jackson directed to the back room. "Did you want to finish up your tattoo tonight?" 

Winter quickly looked over to the vintage gothic rose that was nearly done on the left side of her chest above her breast, "No, I was thinking of just a piercing."

"Are you wanting the Rook done tonight?" 

"I was thinking a facial piercing. I never thought I would get a facial piercing, but I figure why not? What do you think would look good on me?" she really had no desires for piercings other than her ears, but she thought the change would give her some joy. 

Jackson took a quick look at her face, "I think you'd look cute with a Monroe." He gave her the handheld mirror and put a dot on the left side of her upper lip. "What do you think of that?" 

Winter liked it, "Yeah, let's do it."

"Sweet!" he said as he prepared the needle and sterilized it. "I've seen you sitting on the bridge on Mountain Road above the river..." he said as he prepared. "Are you an adrenaline junkie?"

Winter let out a tiny laugh, "No, I just sit there sometimes and watch the waves crashing. Why would you assume that?" 

He shrugged, "You come in here to get random piercings in the middle of the night, sitting on the edge of a bridge that no one would dare sit near because of the fatality rate; Yet, sometimes I see you walking the edge. Either you're trying to kill yourself or you're numb and the danger excites you." 

Winter blinked at his observation, "I guess more of the second one." 

Jackson nodded, "I figured. Are you dealing with PTSD or trauma? Does it have to do with the scars you're covering up with the flower tattoo?" 

Winter weakly smiled at him, "You're good at reading people." 

"Yeah... Well... I spend my day and nights tattooing people with lots of different stories. I've seen it all..." He looked at her with the needle, "You ready?" 

Winter nodded.

Jackson clenched the upper left side of her lip with his tool. On his count, he put the needle through her skin. She winced at the sting and a tear formed in her eye. It was finally a tear from physical pain rather than her heartbreak. 

"Perfect!" he smiled at her, "Take a look!" 

She lifted up the mirror and looked at the left side of her upper lip with the small steel ball. She liked how it contrasted well with her pale skin tone and it somehow brought out the color of her eyes. 

"So, are you finally going to tell me your story or are you always going to be a mystery?" Jackson asked. He sat down in front of her in his chair and lifted the sleeves of his sweater, exposing his inked-up arms. "There's not much action in here at this time of night other than you, so I have time." 

Winter smiled at his interest, "It's a crazy story that I won't explain all the long details, but I got hit on the left side of my chest, close to the shoulder with a glass bottle of alcohol. It was mean't to be thrown at someone else, but it ended up hitting me. I hit the wall when it hit me, it shattered and cut up my shoulder and chest area. It dislocated my shoulder, too, so it took a little while to heal..." She nodded as she explained, "That's it... I'd rather not look at it, so that's why you're covering it up for me." 

"Shit..." Jackson said, running his hand through his hair, "I bet the person who did that felt like shit." 

Winter looked down to the ground at the comment...

_"Winter, I'm so sorry!" Henry ran over to her with towels as she clenched her shoulder and cried on the floor from the pain, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you okay, baby? Oh, my God, Winter! I am so so sorry!"_

_She looked up to his red face that was caused by crying at what he did. She could see the anxiety building in his expression over hurting her. She could also smell the alcohol on his breath. She knew he didn't mean to hit her when she walked in the door, as she could hear the familiar voice of Ace right on the other side of the door, taunting Henry, right before she walked in at the wrong time and got hit with the bottle._

_"I'll take you to the hospital!" Henry got up to his feet and stumbled to find his car keys._

_Winter tried not to slip on her own blood as she got up to her feet and held onto her dislocated shoulder, "No! You're drunk, Henry!" she cried._

She looked back up at him, "Yeah, he was really upset..." She came back to reality as she looked up at Jackson who was looking at her. "I have another scar I want to cover up, but I don't know what do get..." She lifted up her sweater and showed him the three scar marks on her stomach that were left behind from the clown fifteen years ago. 

His eyes went wide, "Holy fuck! Did you fall in the lions den at the zoo?" 

_...The clown appeared in front of her. It had claws this time, which rose up and sliced her stomach, like a threatened lion ready to kill._

Winter shrugged at the comment, "You could say that." 

"If you come up with an idea, I can try to create something. They look like they were really deep, though, so I don't know if I could cover them up fully. It could be worth a shot, though." 

Winter weakly smiled at him and put her top down, "I'll try to think of something. I should probably get back home, though." 

As Winter was about to get off the chair, Jackson's hand glided her thigh. Right away, she could feel her scars on her stomach begin to burn. The clown's mark on her had become kind of like a sixth sense. Whenever she felt like someone wanted to get their own claws into her, the scars warned her. It taught her that, although there are good people in the world, sometimes they didn't have good intensions. 

"You know, Winter, if you ever want to try other coping mechanisms to stop feeling numb, don't hesitate to give me a call..." his face was close as he stared from her eyes to her crotch. 

Winter sat there for a moment, dismissing the burns coming from her scars and put her attention to her pussy that was beginning to tingle. It had been four years since she had sex, so the comment tempted her. Plus, the idea of sexual pleasure did seem like a good idea rather than physical pain to make her feel alive again. 

She stared at Jackson as he continued to glide his hand closer to her pussy. The image of him standing in front of her, pounding her pussy as she sat in the tattoo chair crossed her mind and it turned her on. 

She quickly looked down towards the bulge in his pants from his boner, and for a moment, she wanted it. Then her attention went to his hand, and he had a wedding band on his ring finger. When she saw that, she didn't want to do it anymore. 

Winter looked back up to his face, "I think I'll just keep seeing you as my tattoo artist." 

He inhaled deeply at the rejection and he knew it was because of the wedding band. He looked up back to her face, "I respect that. I'll see you around, Winter." 

She got up from her seat and put on her jacket, "You, too, Jackson." 

When Winter got home, she sat at her keyboard that she was using to practice her singing. She found the only ways she was distracted from her darkness was to keep singing and working at the hospitals. She found joy from expressing herself through singing like she did when she was a teenager. She also found enjoyment by helping people at the hospitals she worked at. 

When she arrived in Castle Rock four years ago, she looked for ads in the paper for anyone who needed a Veterinarian. As it turned out, Castle Rock was not in high-demand for Veterinarians, but the city was always hiring nurses. She decided to go back to college and get her nurses degree and become a RN. However, since she was on her own in life, she needed to make money. She found out that there was a celebrity couple in Castle Rock that were looking for a live-in caretaker for their exotic animals. 

When Winter found the ad, she didn't think it would be such a high-status celebrity couple. When she arrived for her interview, it was a lawyer the couple hired to interview her. It wasn't until she got the job and was being shown around the property that she found out that the house she was going to be moving into was a seasonal home owned by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. When she met the couple, she was told she had to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement; She was not allowed to tell anyone who she lived with, anything the couple did in their home or what they talked about. 

Although they were barely at their home in Castle Rock, Tom Hanks was building a business at his property where he would let people rent the property for weddings as there was so many acres. He wanted to create a luxury nature experience for couples that wanted to get married there, or even if anyone wanted to book it for parties or conferences. 

Whenever Tom and Rita had their big celebrity parties at the property, they asked her to be the performer. When the high-status musicians came to the party, they wanted to be entertained rather than be the entertainers. It was definitely weird for Winter, but she did it anyway. They would pay for her time. 

When Winter got her RN license, Tom took the opportunity to move his mom, Janet Frager, into one of the bedrooms in the house as she needed part-time supervision to be sure she took her medicine in the morning and the night. Winter would also help her take baths in the evening. She acted as a Personal Support Worker for Janet, but it was to Winter's relief that she really didn't need too much attention. She was still independent enough to get around while Winter was busy at work or doing other things. 

If Winter didn't have enough on her plate already, she was also studying part-time to become a doctor. The busier Winter was, the less time she had to think about Henry or the past. That's what made the night-time so hard, though; That's when all her ghosts and darkness would appear to her. 

Winter sat at the keyboard, playing a piano melody that she was in the process of writing lyrics to. As Tom and Rita knew she was a good vocalist, they had asked her to write an original wedding song that they would buy from her and copyright it to belong to the property for when they do open up the wedding business at the property. 

Winter had no inspiration to write a song about love, though, and she had been trying to write it for three months. 

_"It wakes me up at night..._

_Needs to share its light..._

_It doesn't get how dark it is outside..._

_Warms the rising sun..._

_It kisses everyone..._

_It doesn't remember the hate of yesterday..."_

Winter sighed frustrated at her song. She lost the love of her life, so she didn't know how to write a song about love when all she wanted to sing about was the darkness she was trapped in. 

As she sat there, she began playing the keys to songs that she could actually feel emotionally connected to at that moment. Since it was a sound-proof basement apartment she lived in, she belched out the lyrics to the Evanescence song that she was feeling so deeply connected to with the tears running down her cheeks. 

_"One day we won't feel this pain anymore..._

_Take it all the way!_

_Shadows of you..._

_'Cause they won't let me go!_

_So I have nothing left!_

_And all I feel is this cruel wanting!_

_We've been falling for all this time..._

_And now I'm lost in paradise!"_


	3. Part 3: Eddie Kaspbrak

  
  
Winter laid in her bed, trying her best to get some rest before she had to walk to Castle Rock Hospital in an hour. 

When she was at home alone, her mind could never stop flashing back to the good and the bad memories in her memory vault. She cuddled up to her big pillow as her mind wouldn't shut off. 

_"Henry, I don't get it..." twenty-seven year old Winter took off her jacket and set it on the chair._

_This was the week before she left Henry._

_"Whenever I'm not here, you're drinking. I know that you're still coping with your dad, Will and Jim dying, but it's been almost two years, babe. How long are you going to keep drinking? I miss the way things were before you drank. I want to start planning our wedding again," Winter said concerned._

_"I know!" Henry said frustrated at himself, "I'll quit, baby."_

_"No, he won't..." Ace smirked in the corner of the kitchen._

_Henry stared at him as the ghost looked Winter up and down seductively. Winter didn't see or hear him, she never saw them, unless she was in the middle of sleep paralysis and she never knew if that was real or in her head._

_Winter softly put her index finger on Henry's chin and turned his face so he would look at her instead of the corner of the room._

_"I thought you said that they're not around when I'm here?" Winter asked him._

_"They're usually not..." Henry said frightened._

_Winter kissed his lips softly. She could taste the alcohol on his lips, but she loved him so much that it never affected her. The only thing she didn't like about the drinking was that he felt that the only way to escape the ghosts was to drink, and it really was affecting his personality and life. There was so much pain and depression, and Winter felt so bad for her man, but wanted him back to his normal self so badly._

_Henry began to shed some tears as he put his forehead to hers and placed his hand on her cheek, "I want them gone so bad, baby. I want our normal lives again. If you're not here with me, they're trying to get in my head. The alcohol shuts them out a bit, but it's not working like it use to. It's only when you're here with me, I feel kind of normal again."_

_Winter put her hand in the back of his head and scrunched his messy brown hair in her hand. She kissed his lips over and over as she began to cry herself. "We'll figure it out, babe." She hugged him as tight as she could as he cried into the side of her neck, "I'm here. I'll always be here with you."_

Yet, here she was laying in her own bed in her own apartment in another state. She had left the moment it became too dangerous when Henry threw the bottle of alcohol at her by accident. Winter's conscious swam with guilt for leaving, but it seemed like the best thing to do at that time. Now it's been four years since she last saw or talked to Henry, and she missed him so bad everyday. She felt like a grief-stricken widow. 

Winter grabbed her pillow and put it against her face as she screamed and cried, wishing she could just hold the love of her life again. 

Later on that day, Winter was working at the hospital in the emergency unit. One of the only times that she felt like her thoughts and emotions were clear of darkness was when she was working. 

She had just finished working on a patient who had a broken wrist. As she was finishing up the dismissal papers at the RN desk, she could hear the voice of a man coming from behind her in one of the rooms where a patient was waiting for an RN or doctor to check up on him. 

"Mom, I told you already... I'm at the hospital... I'm going to get my hand stitched up, and I'll ask one of the doctors or nurses about my problem!" He sounded frustrated as he was on the phone with his mom. "No, I'm not thinking anymore into it! If I do, I'll probably give myself an asthma attack from the anxiety! I'll figure it all out later... That's it! Okay, mom... Okay, I'm hanging up now!" 

Sheila, one of the RN's working at the desk sighed, "That patient is so high-maintenced. A true Hypochondriac. I'm just glad he doesn't come in with his mom or wife anymore." 

Winter snorted, "He sounds pretty anxious." 

"Winter, he's here all the time. He's always anxious... If you only saw how big his file is, you would be shocked!" she rolled her eyes. "Are you going on your break now?" 

"Yeah, I probably should," Winter looked at her phone for the time. 

"Great! I'll go on break when you come back. As for now, I must suffer looking after Mr. Kaspbrak for the millionth time," Sheila sighed as she grabbed the chart. 

Winter's eyes went wide at the name, "Who? You don't mean Eddie Kaspbrak?"

Winter thought about her skinny, baby-cute, germaphobe best friend in high school. She remembered how his dorky personality would make her smile. For a kid who was younger than her, he sure knew how to grab her attention with his enthusiastic facial expressions and goofy dance moves that always made her laugh. 

"You've treated him before, too?" she asked unenthusiastically. She let Winter see the chart, "He's in for stitches today. He fell outside shovelling his mom's driveway and cut his hand pretty deep." 

Winter looked at the chart.

**Name: Edward Kaspbrak**

**Date of Birth: September 3, 1981**

"No friggin' way!" Winter said to herself as she realized that it was her friend from high school. Now that she recalled, out of the seven of her friends, he was her favourite to hang out with. Winter looked at Sheila, "How about I take my break after I look after him? I've known him since high school. I've basically been his nurse since we were in school. He won't be high-maintenced for me."

"Hey, If you want to deal with him, then go right ahead. At least his mom or wife isn't here... They are the worst people I've ever met in my life. They think he has every allergy in the world..." she shook her head disapprovingly. "When you're done with him, go on your break." 

Winter softly smiled at her, "No worries." 

Winter took the chart and pushed open the door of the room Eddie was in. He hadn't looked up as he was texting on his Blackberry with one hand as the other was wrapped in a bandage.

Winter looked at him as he sat on the bed in his buttoned up green shirt and dress-pants. His hair was brushed back. His face was definitely Eddie's, just older, and he looked better with age. 

She closed the door behind her and smiled at him, "Hey there, Edz! How's it going?" she asked as if she only saw him at school yesterday.

Eddie looked up from his phone annoyed, "No one calls me..." His eyes went wide when he noticed it was Winter Callaghan who was wearing a sweater and scrub pants with his charts, "Holy shit!" he said as he stared her up and down in shock.

He was at a loss of words. This was the girl - _woman_ \- he had a crush on in high school, who he hasn't seen in about thirteen-fourteen years. She was standing right in front of him. The first thought that crossed his mind when he saw her was that she was the first woman he had ever seen naked, and she was the first woman he ever had a sexual fantasy about after he saw her and Henry having sex in the Barrens fifteen years ago. His mind also wandered to that one day in the library when the whole town of Derry was scared of the child-eating clown (but that is a flashback we will get into another time). He had based his ideal woman he wanted to marry from her, however it backfired in his face when he married a woman who was almost exactly like his mother. 

They both were silent as Winter waited for him to say something to her. For someone who was just talking on the phone non-stop and never stopped talking in high school, she knew he must have been in shock. 

"Winter?" he finally spit out. "You're here? Working?" 

Winter giggled at his expression, "Yeah, I work here part-time." 

His eyes continued to look her up and down, observing her adult hour-glass shape as her hips and butt were shaped perfectly and her breasts had grown a little bit. He admired her long brown hair with the caramel highlights and thought she looked beautiful with her think-rimmed glasses and little stud above her lip. She looked like a professional, yet edgy, nurse. 

"Holy shit! Come give me a hug!" he smiled admiringly at her. 

Eddie got up to his feet and wrapped the one arm around her that didn't require stitches as she wrapped both her arms around his shoulders. 

The first thing Eddie did was sniff her hair. She still smelled like strawberries and vanilla. The next memory of her that crossed his mind was when they were talking to each other before they went into the sewers that traumatizing day when he was fifteen and she was seventeen. He could recall the butterflies in his stomach as she touched the side of his head and told him that she always looked at him as a man. Even to this day, he didn't feel like the masculine man like her high school sweetheart was, but just the way her hands would feel on his body made him feel masculine. Hugging her didn't feel like hugging Myra, who wore the pants in the relationship and would bring his masculinity down just by the way she talked to him. There was always that sweet feminine energy from Winter that made him feel peaceful and powerful. 

Eddie kept his arm around her waist as he wanted to look at her face. He smiled at her as he tried to remember all the details about their friendship in high school. 

Winter noticed how his face looked like it became longer with a stronger jawline. His smile even made him have dimples in his cheeks. She always knew he would turn into a handsome man. 

Smiling, Winter lightly grabbed his injured hand, "What did you do? You fell while shovelling?" 

Eddie sat back down on the bed as Winter grabbed the table to put in front of them and she grabbed a chair to sit across from him. He put his right hand on the table as she unwrapped the bandages. There was a deep, but small, cut on his palm. 

Winter looked at Eddie's face as he wasn't answering; He was still staring at her face. 

"Edz?" she giggled. 

Eddie blinked a few times, "Sorry! I'm still trying to catch up... You walking in and calling me Edz like you did in high school just threw me right off." 

Winter grinned, "I guess it has been about thirteen years or so..." 

Eddie, still perplexed, smiled at her, "You look amazing. You always looked great, but I'm so caught off guard now that I'm blushing..." he laughed. 

"Well, don't make me blush, I need to fix your hand," she touched her cheek as it became warm; He laughed in response. "But look at you, Edz. If you looked like this in high school, I may have taken double glances at you in the hallways," she teased. 

Eddie laughed more. He seemed so giddy and thrown off his game by her being there. He was noticeably blushing. 

_'Wow... What a really nice laugh and smile...'_ She thought to herself.

"Don't mind me..." he smiled adoringly at her, "You can stitch me up, but I might be awkwardly staring at you the entire time." 

Winter laughed and began disinfecting his wound. He was right when he said that he would be staring at her the entire time. Not once did he look down at his hand to see the job she was doing. 

"How long have you been working here? I thought you were becoming a Veterinarian? I have so many questions!" he smiled. 

Winter giggled as she looked from his hand to his face, "I've been working here for two years now. I also work casually at Derry General Hospital. I'm also an at-home nurse for an older lady in the city. I was a Veterinarian for about six years in Pittsburgh. When I moved to Castle Rock, there wasn't much demand in the field. So, I spent a couple of years getting my RN license, and now here I am today stitching your hand..." she looked to his face and smiled. "How about you? What do you do?"

"It doesn't surprise me that you would be working as a nurse. You always knew what to do to fix us up as kids," Eddie smiled, "I own my own business. It's a limo company, and my business runs in almost every state." 

"Good for you, Edz!" Winter said, happy that he was his own boss, "Do you live in Castle Rock?"

"I live in Rumford, Maine... Just the next town over, it's about a twenty minute drive from here. I moved here from New York three years ago when I wanted less of the big city life and wanted to move back home. Well, not exactly home, since Derry is about two hours away, but I wanted to be back in Maine," he smiled. 

Winter nodded, "Very cool. I see you got married?" 

Eddie didn't want to talk about his wife. He just nodded and shrugged, "I did, but we're separating."

He didn't mention that he had only decided to leave Myra a few days ago. What were the chances that he would run into his childhood crush just a few days after telling his wife that he wanted to seperate? 

"Oh..." Winter looked up at him. She said compassionately, "I'm sorry to hear about that."

"It's okay!" he smiled at her, "I'm living with my mom now until I can find my own place."

Winter smiled at him as she continued to stitch his hand, "As long as you're happy, right?" 

"Did you and Henry get married? You guys probably have, like, ten children? Twenty?" he joked as he took a sip from his coffee. 

Winter continued to look down at his hand; She really didn't want to get into what she felt was the worst decision of her life; "No, we broke up four years ago." 

Eddie choked a little bit on his coffee as he wasn't expecting her to say that. 

Winter looked up to his face as his cough calmed down. "Are you okay, Edz?" She tried not to smile as all his expression on his face seemed comical in a heartfelt and cute type of way.

"Yeah... I'm just really surprised to hear about that..." he said, as he was all of a sudden extra aware of the wedding band on his left ring finger that he wanted to just rip off knowing now that her and Henry broke up. 

Winter turned away to look at her medical tools and supplies on her side table. Eddie took the opportunity to take his injured hand from the table and slid his wedding ring off with a little bit of force. He shoved the ring in his pocket and quickly put his right hand back on the table. 

Winter turned back to his hand and looked at the face of a man staring at her admiringly. 

"Are you okay? I'm not hurting you, am I?" she asked as she continued to stitch up his wounds. 

Eddie smiled, "You could never hurt me." 

Although many instances crossed Eddie's mind where she did hurt him without her knowing it: Winter at seventeen years old running her hand through his hair when he was fifteen, telling him he was always a man to her, and then running off into Henry's arms as he would stand there, wishing it was his arms she was running into. Also, all those times he would dance with her, but she always would be thinking of her boyfriend.

"What happened between you and Henry?" Eddie asked, "If you don't mind me asking... The two of you ever breaking up never crossed my mind." 

Winter stopped stitching and looked up to his face. Eddie could tell by how her eyes saddened that it must have been bad and she was clearly not over it. 

"I don't really want to talk about it..." she told him sincerely. 

He nodded understandingly, "It's fine. No pressure. It's impressive that you didn't let the split break you down. Like, look at you, you're a nurse! You're successful!" 

_'You don't know how broken I am, Edz... You don't see me alone in my home... There is no home without Henry...'_ Winter thought to herself.

"I'm also studying to become a doctor," Winter added in with a soft smile. 

"Jesus Christ!" Eddie exclaimed, "I always told you that you were Winter the Wonder Woman!" 

Winter laughed, "That name always made me laugh even though it was super..."

"Super cheesy?" Eddie finished with a laugh, "Everything tastes better with a little cheese on it!"

Winter bursted out laughing, "I will never understand how you're not a comedian! Richie barely ever made me laugh, but you always cracked me up!"

Winter realized that it was the first time she mentioned Richie in years. It felt so weird talking about her old friends from high school. 

"That's because Richie's sense of humour was dry and he was an asshole. You obviously prefer the goofy sense of humour. That's one thing I observed about you from our high school days," he smiled. 

Winter looked up at his face, impressed that he actually knew that about her, which is something she never knew about herself, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I never realized that." 

"We should go for coffee and catch up!" Eddie suggested enthusiastically. He was really happy how this small reunion was going, even if it was in the hospital.

Winter smiled and nodded at him. She really wanted to catch up with her old friend; "Yeah, that would be fun."

"Fun?" Eddie questioned with his eyebrow raised, "I don't think I've heard that word before. What does that mean?" he joked. 

He was obviously hinting that being an adult sucked and there was no fun involved.

Winter giggled and looked up at him, playing into his joke, "Well, I hear the hipster teenagers saying that word all the time. I think it means that you should forget about all the shit happening in your life and basically say fuck it." 

Eddie laughed as he pulled up a definition on his phone, "Webster's dictionary definition of _'Fun'_!" he exclaimed as he continued, " _'Fun: What provides amusement or enjoyment'_!"

Winter looked at him with a questionable look, "I don't even know what those words mean. Amusement? Enjoyment? It all sounds like gibberish to me," she joked. 

He looked at her and shook his head jokingly, trying his best to look serious, "Well, I guess I could try to fit some of this _'fun'_ thing into my agenda. I don't know if my old man mind and body could handle all this fun, though." 

Winter giggled at his comical serious expression, "Shut up, Edz! I'm older than you!" 

He laughed as he stared her in the eyes. It was the first time in a long time that the both of them were laughing and forgetting about their own personal problems. 

"I take it that your life is shitty, too?" Winter asked him. 

"I'm actually president of the shitty life club. We are accepting new members if you would like to join?" he joked. "I would love to have a friend in the club." 

"Now that you bring it up, how come it's so effin' impossible to make friends as an adult? Have you noticed that, or is it just me?" Winter asked. 

"I know! I haven't had any friends since high school. I had some in university, but I have no friends in this stage of my life..." he said, "Wow! Our lives really are shitty!" He then turned his thoughtful expression into an adoring smile, "We can be friends if you want?" 

Winter laughed, "Yes!" 

As Winter bandaged up his hand, she proceeded in giving Eddie her number so they could go out for coffee and catch up. The thirty minutes went by very fast as the two of them continued to joke and laugh. Eddie didn't even feel a thing while she was stitching up his hand as they were both having a great time catching up. 

Winter quickly looked at his chart to make sure she covered everything that he came in for. She had noticed that there was something else. Eddie had requested that he needed to talk about a personal problem when he checked in; There were no details written. 

"Edz, did you need to talk about a personal problem?" Winter asked as she looked at him, open to talking about whatever he needed to discuss. 

Eddie began to blush. He quickly shook his head and said, "No... No, it's okay."

Winter knew that whatever he needed to talk about, he felt uncomfortable talking to her about it. 

"I won't be judging you if there's something you really need to talk about, Edz. Unless, maybe you want me to get another nurse or a doctor to talk to you instead?" she suggested. 

"No..." he smiled uncomfortably. "Don't worry about it, Winter... I had such a great time with you, that I don't want to kill my mood by bringing it up." 

She softly smiled, "Okay... If you need to talk about anything, you have my number."

He softly smiled at her. He couldn't stop admiring how beautiful she was inside and out.

Winter walked Eddie towards the exit doors of the hospital. 

Before he left to go on with the rest of his day, he turned to her, "I'll text you, and hopefully we can get a coffee soon!" 

"Awesome, Edz! Sounds fun!" she smiled. 

He gave her a comical smile and pointed at her with his phone in his hand as he said, "There's that word again!" 

Winter watched Eddie as he walked away. It felt good to have her best friend back in her life. She couldn't help but wonder if they were flirting. The idea of Eddie flirting seemed impossible as he was such an awkward dorky kid in high school... But the way he was interacting with her was similar, yet different, then the awkward dorky kid in high school. His dorkiness as an adult was rather charming.

Winter shook her head at the question of whether he was flirting with her or not, "Nah!" 


	4. Part 4: A Night of Champagne and Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!! Don't forget to start with CHAPTER 1!  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

__

_"When my golden crown..._  
_Becomes a cup of doubt..._  
_I try to remember all I need is all around..."_

Winter played her keyboard as she wrote the second verse of the wedding song that the Hanks had wanted her to write for their wedding venue project. So far she was able to complete the two verses of the song, but she didn't know what to write for a chorus.

Winter sighed, "Ugh! How do I write about emotions that I don't feel anymore?"

Her phone began to ring on the sofa. She picked it up and saw that it was Eddie.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Winter!" he was on his Bluetooth in his car, "I'm driving down Hamilton Hall Road, but I can't find your place."

They had decided that Eddie would pick up the coffees and bring them over to Winter's for some catch-up time. Since there was a snowstorm warning, they figured it would be the best thing rather than to drive out to sit in a coffee house.

"There's only three houses that I've noticed and they're all mansions," he continued.

"If you're driving up the hill, I'm in the house on the left. It's the one with the spiral driveway. Just park to the side of the house and walk a bit to the back. I live in the walkout basement apartment," she said as she got up to look out her windows from the entrance of her home and noticed the snow starting.

"You live in a walk-out basement in a mansion?" he asked perplexed.

She laughed lightly, "Yeah... I guess we really do have a lot to catch up on."

"We sure do!" he laughed. "Okay, I'll be at your door in less than two minutes."

Winter smiled as she placed her phone on the kitchen counter and did some last minute clean up on the floor of her clothes and books. She kept it clean overall, but if she remembered Eddie like she thought she did, he was a clean, tidy, observant individual. She knew how his type would appreciate a clean atmosphere.

Winter went over to her door when she heard the knock and saw Eddie standing outside with the coffees and a bag.

She opened up the door and greeted her old friend, "Hey, Edz! Come in, it must be really cold out." She stepped aside for him to enter.

"Coffee delivery!" he smiled. "I hope you still take it with two cream, because that's what I got when I remembered that I didn't ask you earlier."

Winter grabbed both the coffees as he proceeded to take off his boots and jacket. She smiled at him, "Perfect! You're awesome!" She walked with the two coffees and put them on her living room table. "So, welcome to my home!" she smiled.

Eddie quickly glanced around.

Winter looked at him as he stood in her open living room/kitchen space with a black long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans. She really couldn't help but observe how handsome he became since his awkward teen days. His appearance gave off a dad kind of vibe; She looked at him and thought about Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement. It was opposite of Henry's laid-back and grungy, yet, classy appearance.

Winter walked back over to him and gave him a welcoming hug.

Eddie looked at Winter's outfit quickly; She wore dark blue jeans with a white blouse covered with a black shawl. "Still rocking the Stevie Nicks look, I see. Your style hasn't changed much since high school."

Winter smiled and shook her head, "You were the only one who said I dressed like Stevie Nicks..."

"With a little bit of Slim Shady. Can't forget the Slim Shady," he smiled at her. He proceeded to put a bag on her counter, "I know this probably doesn't mix well with coffee, but I figured I can stay a little past my bedtime." He pulled out a bottle of Champagne.

Winter looked at the big bottle of Sparkling Champagne and smiled, "Very fancy, Edz. I figured you wouldn't be a beer or whiskey kind of guy. I barely drink, so I don't really have any Champagne glasses."

He quickly pulled out two Champagne glasses, "You know me, Winter; I always come more than prepared."

Winter laughed as she walked over to him and his bag on the counter; "What else do you have in that Mary Poppins bag of yours?"

He quickly closed the bag up and gave her a guilty, yet silly, expression, "A man can have his secrets."

Winer snorted and shook her head. She proceeded towards her living room and sat on the sofa. Eddie followed behind her and sat on the other side of the same sofa. Winter opened up the drinking tab on her coffee and watched Eddie as he poured them both a glass of Champagne.

"Lucky for me I don't work tomorrow," Winter smiled as she took a sip of the Champagne.

"Are you saying that 'cause you plan to get wasted or something?" Eddie laughed.

Winter giggled, "No!" She liked this new side of Eddie that was very playful and not as tense as he use to be as a teenager. Although, she kept in mind that she hasn't seen the side of him that the nurses and doctors have seen. He probably still had that Hypochondriac, Germophobe, perfectionist side to him. "I actually don't drink too much. I drank a bit when I moved from Pittsburgh to here, but overall, I don't really drink."

"Speaking of living here, how come you're living in the basement of a mansion?" Eddie asked curiously as he took a sip from his alcohol beverage.

"I applied to caretake the animals here. There's a room in this mansion where the owners have a lot of different animals. After I studied to become a nurse, the owners moved in the husband's mom to live with them. I usually take care of her twice a day," Winter ended with another sip of Champagne.

"Whose mansion is this?" Eddie asked, intrigued to know more about the property.

Winter took a sip of her Champagne, "I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you..." she teased.

Eddie smiled at her comment; "Non-disclosure agreement?"

Winter nodded, "Yep! Like, I'm totally allowed to have friends over and show them some areas of the property. I just can't say much as to who lives here. If it happened that you were over, and you bumped into one of the owners, they would just get you to sign the agreement, as well."

Eddie could feel the ease and all the stress is his life disappearing as they continued to talk together on the sofa and continued on drinking. With the storm happening outside and the small fire lit in the fireplace across from them, it really was a perfect night to him. It was more perfect that he had his best friend from high school with him.

"So, wait a minute!" Winter giggled as she put down her drink on the table, "You're telling me that Richie became famous? Our Richie?"

"Oh, my God!" Eddie threw his hands towards his forehead and smiled; The alcohol had hit the both of them. "How do you not know this?" He cut his hand in the air like he use to as a kid.

"I don't know, Edz! I'm not on the socials and don't watch many online videos!" she smiled as she took a sip.

Eddie stared at her amused, not saying anything as he pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering where this woman has been with no social media. He shook his head at her slowly and sighed.

"Edz! Don't look at me like I've been living under a rock for fourteen years!" she laughed.

Eddie bursted out laughing, "Technically it's been nine years, 'cause Facebook came out in 2003..." He smiled at Winter as she continued to give him a look and tried not to smile. He quickly rubbed her foot that was near him on the sofa supportingly, "You haven't been under a rock for that long if you think about it that way."

Winter smiled, "Edz, I have to admit, this is the first time in a long time that I've enjoyed myself."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Last I checked, I'm here too, but I'm very happy that it's yourself that you're enjoying," he said quickly as he took another sip of Champagne.

Winter bursted out laughing; Eddie laughed as well as his own humour, "Oh, my God! You're hilarious!"

After laughing for a long time as tears built in their eyes, they stared at each other, waiting for one of them to say something. Winter couldn't believe how much fun she was having with her old friend. She also couldn't believe how charming he had become in his adulthood.

"You know I'm dying to know..." Eddie said as he broke the silence, "Are you ever going to open up to me about what happened with Henry?"

Winter inhaled deeply as she took another sip of her Champagne. She knew the question was going to come up some time, "I don't know if you would believe me, to be honest."

Eddie reassuring smiled as he rubbed her foot soothingly, "You know there's nothing you could tell me that I wouldn't believe. I remember all the fucked up stuff from high school with the clown, the ghosts, the sewers... I don't think there's nothing that you say that I would question if it's true or not."

Winter took a moment to think about it; She was surprised that he remembered all the crazy things from high school. She remembered running into Bill at Will, Earl and Jim's funeral, and he didn't seem to give off the impression that he remembered anything about the clown.

Eddie spoke up again at her silence, "If you tell me what happened, I'll tell you what I was too nervous to tell you in the hospital the other day; The personal problem I needed to talk about."

Winter looked at him and considered his deal. She slowly nodded, "Okay..."

Eddie straightened himself on the sofa and grabbed his Champagne, looking like he was getting ready for story time.

"It started with Henry's dad, Jim Hopper and Will Hopper's death..."

Eddie nearly choked on his drink, "What? The Hopper's and Mr. Bowers died? Mr. Hopper's dead?" He looked surprised as he remembered the best teacher him, Bill, Stan, Richie and her ever had. "Shit, Winter... If I knew, I would have gone to the funeral. What the fuck happened?"

Winter sighed, "They were hit just outside of the Barrens. They were driving in Jim's car to go have a drink, and the vehicle that hit them drove into their lane and hit them right on. The car was totalled and it rolled down the hill into the Barrens. During the time, Earl was on the phone with Henry and his dad pretty much told him everything as it happened. His dad's last words to Henry haunted Henry until the last day I saw him..."

Eddie bit his lip as he listened, "What did he say?"

Winter moved some hair behind her ear and said, " _'These three guys in a red 1958 Plymouth Fury are coming head-on towards us'_..."

Eddie stared at her with his lips parted open. He remembered Henry with Vic and Belch in the school parking-lot, admiring the old beat up car like it was brand new.

"Jesus Christ!" Eddie said into his fist, "It was _them_?"

Winter nodded, "Yeah, it was them. They waited for Henry to go back to Derry for the funeral..." Winter shook her head as she continued to keep strong and not let any tears fall, "Henry was so messed up over it. When we went to the funeral... I didn't see them... but Henry saw them in the distance, watching Henry, like they were waiting for the funeral to finish. Henry didn't want to tell me since he didn't want to scare me, but in the car ride back to Pittsburgh, he eventually told me that the three of them had appeared in the back seat. They hitched a ride with us to Pittsburgh and wanted to attach themselves to Henry."

Winter and Eddie continued to drink as Winter explained what had happened next in their relationship.

"Henry began drinking whenever I wasn't home. When I was home, he was fine. Other than the grief of losing his uncles and dad, he didn't appear to be haunted by Ace, Vic or Belch. He always said that when we were together, nothing could hurt us. I think that's why he wasn't afraid for my safety; They were attached to him whenever he was alone...

"It took me a few months to clue in that Henry was drinking whenever he was home alone. He couldn't handle the three of them trying to get in his head. They kept telling him that he's not done what he has to do..." Winter quickly glanced at Eddie who was listening attentively, but looked nervous at the same time; "To kill the Lucky Seven..."

Eddie pursed his lips and took an inhale of his inhaler. After he inhaled, he said, "Keep going... I'm fine."

Winter wet her lips and continued on, "For the two years that I was living with Henry as they kept themselves attached to him, I never saw them. There were times when I thought I could hear other voices talking to Henry when he was alone in our room, sometimes I would see things pass by in the corner of my eye, but the worst was for two years, I didn't feel like I was alone in the shower... I felt myself being watched... It wasn't until Henry told me one day when he broke down from drinking, grief, and fear that they had followed him home after the funeral, that I realized that Ace would watch me in the shower. I never saw him, but I could feel those eyes all over my body..."

"How did you handle it, Winter?" Eddie asked.

Winter shrugged, "I have no idea, Edz. I was really scared for Henry. It didn't feel like there was any way out of it; If we went to a doctor, they wouldn't believe Henry... They would think Henry was going through Psychosis and label him with a concurrent disorder; They would say he's treating some sort of Paranoid Schizophrenia with alcohol. There was no way out, Edz. I planned to stay with Henry forever, though, and help him somehow fight the three ghosts. I didn't know how we would do it, but I was sure I was going to be with Henry for the rest of my life. Even during those hard times, I loved him so much and I wanted to beat the devil with him. Before everything happened, the eight years Henry and I lived together before the deaths and the ghosts, our lives were perfect..." Her eyes began to fill up with tears, "Edz, we were so fucking happy..."

Eddie watched her face as the thought of Henry made her cry. He bit down on his lip, trying to figure out how such a beautiful soul could continue to shine her light even through all those hard times.

"Even when he was working, he told me they would be there. They would leave him be, though. They would come into the mechanic shop with the '58 Plymouth - It would look brand new - and they would be there working on the car until he was ready to go home. Once he was home, and if I wasn't there before him, he would begin drinking to deal with having to be with the three of them alone..."

"What made you decide to leave?" Eddie asked.

Winter looked at his face, and Eddie knew that out of all the trauma, this part was going to be the worst part of it all; "I got home one night a little early... I was standing outside of the apartment door and I could hear Henry yelling, but I could also hear Ace's voice right on the other side of the door. Ace was trying to get into Henry's head again, like usual..."

Winter looked away and pinched her nose, trying to keep the tears in that wanted to flood out. Eddie began to rub her foot again. Winter took a shot of the Champagne and went on; "I opened the door to the apartment... Ace was standing right there, but I didn't see him. He must have been standing right in front of me. It was only a second, and Henry didn't realize I walked in... He threw a full bottle of Rum at Ace, but it hit me... It hit me right on the left side of my chest and my shoulder. There was so much impact that it shattered and I hit the wall... I fell to the floor, and I was bleeding everywhere... I had so many shards of glass in my skin and it dislocated my shoulder... I don't know if I was more upset with the actual impact or if it was Henry's distraught face when he saw what he did that made me feel the most pain..."

Eddie scooted over closer to her as she began to tear up again. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He couldn't believe this story had happened to two of his good friends from high school.

"I think I need more Champagne..." Winter weakly smiled as she was going to continue on with her story.

Eddie grabbed the bottle and poured her another glass; "I'm so sorry this all happened to you and Henry, Winter."

Winter began to continue on, "Henry wanted to take me to the hospital, but something in me just wanted to get away and be alone. I left on my own that night. I put on my winter jacket and hopped on a bus... No one knew on the bus, that underneath the jacket, I was bleeding and losing so much blood. At that time, I didn't have enough money to go to the hospital to get fixed up, and I believed enough in myself to fix everything, so I decided to steal one of Henry's bottles of alcohol before I left, took my medical supplies, and I booked a room at a motel... Once I got there, I took a few shots from the alcohol, I snapped my shoulder back into place, and then I spent hours at the mirror, pulling out shards of glass, cleaning my cuts, and then stitching them up. The stitches were so painful, but thinking of how I left Henry at home was the most painful part of it all."

"Jesus Christ, Winter! You're strong if you fixed your own dislocated shoulder and stitched yourself up... Did they scar?" he asked.

Winter nodded. She removed her shawl away from her left shoulder, exposing her unfinished flower tattoo, and he noticed the nine scars of where the broken glass went into her skin on the left side of her chest.

Eddie wanted to run his thumb against the scars on her chest, near her shoulder, and just comfort her. He held himself back as she continued on.

"I stayed at the motel for three days... I didn't leave to go to work or do anything. I was really depressed and didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't want to leave Henry, but I was so scared of Ace, Belch and Vic, and what they were doing to him. Even to this day, I wish I stayed with him."

"I think it's better that you left, Winter. There's no way anyone else would tell you otherwise... I'm sure even Henry is glad that you got yourself out of that situation." Eddie said empathetically.

"Maybe..." Winter said sadly, "I went back to the apartment to pack up the things I really needed after three days of staying at the motel. I knew Henry was probably going crazy not knowing where I went, and he must have figured out by then that I wasn't even going to work.

"When I got to the apartment, Henry was there, but he was in a deep alcoholic sleep. I tried to wake him up, but I think me leaving caused him to drink himself into a deep sleep. I kissed his cheek a few times as he laid on the bed sleeping, and I rubbed my hand threw his hair, just staring down at the love of my life as I cried for him. I made sure he was sleeping on his side and put a bunch of pillows and blankets behind him so he wouldn't roll on his back while he slept, but I knew he was going to be okay if I left him sleeping there. I wrote a note and left it on his dresser that said _'Henry, I'll always be waiting for you. I hope you'll find me when you beat the devil and your demons. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry'._ I left my engagement ring on top of the note."

Eddie looked down towards his glass as he listened to what she wrote on the note. He observed that she left it that she would take him back if he figures out how to overcome his drinking and Ace, Belch and Vic. If he found her, who knows where their relationship would go.

"Then I grabbed a bus, and I figured I would move back to Maine. I stayed at a motel for a few weeks, found this place, and everything just happened from there. I haven't heard from Henry or any of his family since the day I left, and I wish I didn't leave it like that. I wish I knew if Henry was okay..."

Eddie continued to hold her hand as he listened, "I'm sure he's doing okay, Winter. It's been four years now... How have you been doing within the past four years?"

Winter shook her head as she let some more tears escape her eyes, "I feel grief, as if he died, and I don't know why... Then I have so many dreams that I'm still stuck in the sewers like when I was a teenager..." She looked up at Eddie, "Edz, sometimes I don't know if this is real life or if I'm still walking around lost in the sewers, and this is like a life I created to cope with the darkness and loneliness... There's this random woman in my dreams now that always tells me to wake up when I'm stuck in the sewers. It's so weird, Edz..."

"Hey, Winter!" Eddie began, "You're not in the sewers anymore..." He took her hand and put it towards the left side of his chest; She could feel his heart beating, "That beat is real..." he said as he stared into her eyes lovingly.

Winter looked from her hand on his chest to his eyes. It was the first time in years that she had any contact with a human being that wasn't just a friendly hug or to fix someone's wound. Feeling Eddie's heartbeat and the warmth from his chest made her feel a tiny bit of hope. She had missed this type of physical touch.

She softly smiled at him and said sincerely, "I missed you, Edz."

He smiled at her, "I missed you, too, Winter."

They stared into each other’s eyes and they both felt a connection that Winter never felt when she was a teenager. Eddie always had feelings for her, but the way she was looking back at him now made him realize that he always craved for her to look at him like this other than looking at him like he was a kid like she did in high school. He didn't want the moment to end.

"Sorry, Edz, I totally just went on and on. I want to hear about your problem," she smiled as she took her hand away from his chest and took another sip of her drink.

 _'Fuck...'_ Eddie thought. He really didn't want to tell her.

Eddie exhaled a big sigh as he looked up towards the ceiling and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I really don't want to tell you this, but... My mom and my wife..." Winter reminded herself that he was in the middle of a separation when he called her his wife, "...They both think I might have E.D."

Winter blinked as he continued to look away from her. Without any judgement, she asked, "What are your symptoms that they think that you might have Erectile Dysfunction?" In her medical mind, she thought that there was probably a different reason why a man who was thirty was having problems in his sexual life.

Still looking away, he said, "I can't get hard. My wife and I were married for eight years, and we only had sex about five times..."

Winter's eyes went wide at the low number of sex they had for an eight year marriage. He continued to keep his eyes elsewhere and still didn't look at Winter.

"How about when you masturbate?" she asked

"Oh, God!" Eddie said frustrated, "I wish I didn't bring this up."

"It's okay, Edz. I'm only asking as a medical professional," she reminded him. "You might totally not even have E.D."

Eddie sighed, "I can still masturbate. I still wake up with wood, I still get aroused, but whenever I've been intimate with my wife, I can't get turned on and I can't finish."

Winter nodded, "Have you been with anyone else other than your wife?"

Eddie shook his head, "I've only been with her. She told my mom about it and now my mom thinks my penis is broken."

Winter shifty-eyed around the room, thinking that of course his mom would be thinking that. His mom always thought everything was wrong with her son’s health.

"It sounds like it's just that you're not attracted to your wife," Winter said matter-of-factly. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you."

Eddie looked at her with relief in his expression. He blew out a sigh of relief, "Winter, I basically married my mom... Down to her looks to the way she treats me... She's exactly like my mom."

Winter nodded, sad that he never met the woman that she wished he would one day; Someone the total opposite of his mother. "Why would you do that, Edz?"

Eddie shook his head, "My mom wanted me to marry her, and I was already use to the way my mom was to me, so I thought it wouldn't be much of a change in my life. At the time I was fine with that. Marriage to me is about stability and logically being able to take care of each other financially. I didn't think I would find someone I actually loved with my heart, that would want to be with me too, and have strong loving feelings for me. I settled for the first person who showed me that they wanted to be with me."

"Edz..." Winter said disappointed, "You deserve to be loved by someone you want to love, too."

"I never based my decision to marry over love. I thought marriage made sense from a logical and practical point of view, but I never think much with my heart," he said disappointed in himself. "There was only one girl I liked with my heart, but she didn't like me back that way... I didn't want to feel heartbreak again, so I settled with what I thought was safe."

Although Winter didn't know, Eddie was talking about her. There was no one else that Eddie felt feelings for from his heart other than for her, but he could never get the courage to tell her. In high school, she only had eyes for Henry, and even today, her mind and heart was with Henry. 


	5. Part 5: Hammock Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to read CHAPTER 1 first before starting on this series. Link below:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> How is everyone enjoying this story so far?  
> Henry will be coming up soon :) !  
> Can't forget the other losers, as well... OH, and that crazy Pennywise!!

Winter led Eddie outside into the snowstorm to show him the room in the house where the animals lived. They were both buzzed from the Champagne and were having a great time together. Since this was a particular room in the home that the Hanks would have a lot of people over to showcase their animals, Winter knew it would be okay to show Eddie. 

They walked into a huge room that was made of glass windows and the inside was full of plants, small trees, flowers, and small water falls. It was a fancy nature room with birds and some reptiles. 

Winter flicked on one of the lights that dimmed the room. The dim lights made it still easy to see out the windows on that snowy cold night. Winter loved going in the room at night to lay in the hammock and listen to the birds and waterfalls as she looked up into the starlit sky. On starry nights she would go in by herself. Since it was a snowstorm, all they could see was the snow hitting the glass. 

Eddie looked around in amazement at the beautiful room full of nature and looked up to the birds that were in the trees. He turned to her; "You've got to be shitting me!"

Winter laughed, "Yeah, it's pretty amazing. These birds and reptiles are my babies."

"They're not going to shit on my head, are they, or fly in my face?" he asked concerned. 

Winter shook her head, "No, I trained them to do their business in certain areas, and I've never seen them hit anyone in the face," she giggled. She made her way to the huge hammock and slowly sat in it. She looked over to Eddie who was still looking around; "You're still paranoid about germs, eh?" 

Eddie walked over to the hammock and got into it, sitting on the other side so he could face her; They sat there with their feet to their heads, "I wouldn't say I'm _'paranoid',_ I'm just very clean. I hate bacteria and I hate getting sick." 

Winter smiled and nodded, teasingly saying, "Right..." Although she couldn't help but wonder why Eddie held onto her hand that day that she was carried out from the drain pipe in the Barrens in 1997. She remembered him right next to her, talking to her as he remained close and tried to hold her hand that had been covered in blood, dirt, and tons of bacteria. 

Eddie had the nearly empty bottle of Champagne and poured them both the remaining of what was inside of it.

Winter took her glass and laughed, "We finished a whole bottle?" 

"Just for the record, I don't ever drink like this. I guess seeing each other for the first time since you left for college is just really celebratory," Eddie smiled as he outstretched his arm for her to cheers his glass. 

"That's something I can cheers too!" she lightly clunked her glass against his and they both took a sip. 

He looked down at his watch, "This is the first time since my wedding day that I stayed up past 10PM." 

"Oh, my God!" Winter laughed, "What? You don't even stay up until midnight during New Years?" 

Eddie laughed, "No... I'm very routined." 

"Jesus, Edz!" Winter giggled. "So, you're telling me, that you have never stayed up all night with someone talking until sunrise, or you haven't experienced amazing sex all throughout the night?" 

Eddie smiled and shook his head, "No, I guess I haven't." 

Her mentioning sex made him blush. He remembered when he saw her having sex with Henry in the Barrens when they were teenagers, and he got so turned on that he needed to take care of himself in the woods. Sometimes when he was having sex with Myra, he would close his eyes and picture himself as Henry with Winter underneath him. It helped him get turned on to continue having sex with Myra, but when he would open his eyes and see it wasn't the woman from his fantasies, he would immediately get turned off and could never finish. 

Winter quickly pulled out her phone and looked at the time; It was 3AM, "Well, I guess I'm taking away your talking until sunrise virginity." 

Eddie laughed more, "I guess I can take that off of my bucket list. Is it crazy that I go to bed every night by 10PM?" 

Winter smiled at him adoringly, "It's not crazy. It's actually really good. I wish I could have a set time to go to bed and be able to sleep throughout the night. I've had Sleep Paralysis since I was discharged from the hospital in high school, so unfortunately that means my best friend is caffeine." 

Eddie weakly smiled at her; He remembered a time in particular when he went down to the club house one summer before Winter left for college and caught her in one of her nightmares. She had been laying in the hammock that day, too, so the memory really did jump at him. 

Winter looked up from her drink to Eddie's face; She had many thoughts rushing through her mind while she was sitting across from Eddie. One thought was how she always wished that one day Henry and her would be back together and he would be over to see this amazing room in this huge gorgeous home; The second thought was how much Eddie had changed physically and in his personality since high school. He was the same good old Edz, but he was a man now, and a very attractive man at that. 

Eddie noticed how she was looking at him. He had remembered in high school that he couldn't wait to grow up so she would stop looking at him as a kid. That spark in her eyes that she had when she looked at him now was something he had been craving from her for so long. He couldn't help but grin like a man in love as they sat there talking to each other. 

"Usually there's a lot of stars when I come out here at night... Damn, snow..." Winter said shyly, trying to break the silence as they stared at each other. She could feel the vibe coming off of him as he looked at her grinning. She wanted to open her heart, but she was apprehensive about it with Henry still in the back of her mind.

Eddie had an idea, "Here..." he pulled out his phone and slowly repositioned himself on the hammock so they were laying side by side instead of across from each other. 

Winter stared at him with wonder as he laid right beside her. Eddie opened a sky view app on his phone, which showed all the stars in the sky as he pointed his camera towards the night sky. 

"No way!" Winter giggled. "That's so cool!" 

Eddie exhaled with a smile as he slowly moved the camera around the glass ceiling. There were thousands of stars, and the zodiacs would show up around the night sky. "There you are, Ms. Pisces." 

Winter smiled, "Where are you?" 

"Well, I'm your opposite sign, so I should be just over here..." he pointed his phone on the other side of Pisces and it showed on his phone his zodiac sign; Virgo. 

Winter looked at the side of his face in the dim light, "What does that mean? My opposite sign?" 

Eddie turned and looked at her face, "We're opposite on the zodiac charts from each other. It means we're opposite in personality... For example, you might think more emotionally and I might think more logically. Another one is you could be more go-with-the-flow and I'm more planned and scheduled. I could be a right brain thinker and you might be a left brain thinker."

Winter smiled, "Yeah, that sounds like us." 

Eddie smiled as he continued to stare at her, "I did some of my own studying into Astrology after what we went through as kids... I read that for Virgos and Pisces, we either don't get along at all or we get along really well. We either push each other or we pull into each other."

Winter couldn't help but stare into his eyes as she spoke, "Well, we obviously always got along really well, so I guess we pull into each other." 

He stared back into her eyes and he wanted to say something romantic, "Do you feel me pulling into you?" After the words came out of his mouth, he realized how sexual it sounded. 

Winter bursted out laughing, "Wow, Edz!" 

Eddie looked away but laughed as well, "At least I didn't ask if you feel me pushing into you."

"Oh, no!" Winter laughed even more. "Just blame it on the alcohol, Edz." 

The two of them continued to laugh until their cheeks hurt and tears were forming into their eyes. 

"Winter, I'm going to be honest..." Eddie looked back over at her with sleepy tired eyes, "This has been the best night of my life, and I'm not just saying that. My life has sucked big time since I got married, and separating has made my life feel even more stressful... but this night... It's like I feel like nothing else in my life matters. I kind of feel like a kid again, and a man at the same time."

Winter smiled adoringly at him, "This has been a great night. I missed feeling happy and not like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. It's so weird how when we were kids all we wanted to do was feel like adults. Now, here we are as adults, and all we want is to feel like kids again." 

Eddie thought about the day before her, him, Bill, Stan and Richie performed in-front of Derry that December in 1996; How they all complained to Mr. Hopper about how no one takes kids seriously and how being a kid sucked. It also made him remember when they all turned into adults when they performed on stage.

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose when the memory hit him like a ton of bricks, "That fucking turtle! What the Hell happened to that turtle?"

Winter smiled at the memory, "He was living with Henry's brother, Robert. Henry gave it to him after we both got jobs and were trying to settle in." 

"Wow!" the memory flashed in Eddie's mind as he remembered looking at Winter from his keyboard as they performed. He also remembered the Dirty Dancing routine and remembered how they were looking at each other, and he wanted to be an adult so bad so she would look at him like she did that day on the stage again. "Do you remember we all turned into adults? Is it weird that I totally forgot about that until right now?" 

Winter took a moment to think about it; "Wow... That's weird... I totally forgot about that part..."

Eddie looked back at her face and noticed the spark in Winter's eyes as she looked back at him. Eddie stared into her eyes and realized that it was _this_ look that he wanted so badly from her as a kid; The look of admiration and not the eye rolls she would make at him since he was nearly two years younger than her, and the age-gap really showed physically and mentally in high school. As they laid there as adults, age didn't matter; They looked at each other as equal. 

It wasn't long until the both of them had fallen asleep in the hammock as the sun was about to rise. The alcohol had knocked them both out and they both slept peacefully. 

As Winter slept, she dreamed about a memory in her past. It had been the same memory that flashed in Eddie's mind as they sat in the hammock and she was talking about her Sleep Paralysis problems. 

**_ August 25, 1997 _ **

_Winter had been waiting for Eddie in the clubhouse so she could trim his hair. The other six were going to come, too, after she was finished with Eddie._

_Henry was working with his dad at Earl's Mechanics Garage, and she was planning to meet up with him after he was finished his shift later that afternoon._

_Winter had fallen asleep in the hammock and she was in a deep dream as she laid there in the club house._

_In the dream, she was walking in the dark sewers. She wasn't feeling sick, but she felt like she had lost all hope that she was ever going to be found as she continued to keep walking. She was weak and food was scarce._

_There was a woman in her fifties walking behind her. It was the same woman that followed Winter into her dreams up until the present moment as she laid on the hammock with Eddie as an adult. As Winter aged, so did the woman in her dreams. She never knew who she was, but she seemed trustworthy and like she was lost, too_. 

_They walked silently as Winter was in front._

_When Winter looked down into her folded right arm; She looked at the lifeless face of Georgie as Winter never let go of him during her time in the sewers. One way or another, she was going to get his body out of there. She would look down to his face and notice the light shade of blue and how peaceful he looked in his forever sleep. She always teared up when she stared down to his face. She thought about how she could have saved him, or how she betrayed Bill by not saving his little brother._

_As she shed tears onto Georgie's cheek, she could feel the tiny fingers of Lily holding tightly onto her left arm._

_Winter looked down at the little girl; She continued to look straight ahead as she had her strong little grip on her arm. If she were to be torn away, her tiny fingernails would pierce Winter's arm like they did when the clown ripped her away from her._

_The scars from her fingernails never left Winter's arm. Every time she looked down to her left arm, she was reminded of the little girl that she didn't save._

_Winter continued to cry silently as she looked from Georgie's resting face to Lily walking clung to her arm as she walked beside her quietly._

_"You got to let them go, Winter..." the woman behind her said in her weak voice, "They'll only weigh you down. They're dead. Let them go and concentrate on saving yourself."_

_Winter stopped in her tracks; Lily did, too, as her grip was even tighter on Winter's arm. Winter turned to look at the woman behind her; Lily's head turned with a blank stare towards the woman, too, with the same speed that Winter's head turned around._

_"I need to get their body's out of here..." Winter said weakly as she cried, "They're my responsibility to get them out of here."_

_The lady shook her head, "They're dead, Winter. The clown ate their bodies. There's nothing left for you to carry around, and yet, here you are carrying them around. When we're finally out of here, will you always be carrying that boy's dead body in your arms? Will that little girl always be clinging to your arm? They're only here because you're allowing them to be here. You need to let them go!"_

_Winter looked down at Lily; She looked back up at Winter with the same blank stare. She looked down at Georgie in her arm and immediately thought of Bill and how she will never be able to tell him the truth about what happened to Georgie in the sewers._

_"I can't..." Winter cried._

_"Winter!" the woman nearly shouted at her, "Let them go!"_

_Winter shot up in the hammock in the clubhouse with tears in her eyes. The sound of the club house door opening is what woke her up. The dream was still fresh in her mind as she quickly got out of the hammock and wiped the tears from her eyes._

_"Hey, Winter, are you down here?" Eddie said as he climbed down the ladder._

_As Winter tried to get herself back together as Eddie walked down the ladder to the ground, she turned her attention to a photo of her, Bill, and Georgie on the tac-board that was taken one night when Bill and his parents went out and she was babysitting Georgie. They were all smiling. They were all so happy with no traumas. As the picture of Georgie smiling was in front of her, her mind kept flashing back to Georgie's lifeless face. She grabbed her arms as she shook and began to silently cry as she stared at the photo, the anxiety of the trauma hitting her like a ton of bricks._

_"Winter?" Eddie stood close behind her as she stared at the photos, "Are you okay?"_

_Winter slowly turned towards Eddie as he stared at her. He noticed the tears streaming down her face and the pain in her expression as her eyes couldn't focus on one area. He was shocked to see her so distraught and upset._

_Her knees had buckled from the power of the anxiety and sadness over Lily and Georgie. She fell to the ground and broke down crying._

_"Winter!" Eddie said worried as he ran over to her and sat on the ground beside her. Eddie had refused to ever get his clothes dirty from the dirty floor, but he was really concerned about his friend._

_Winter didn't answer; She could only cry._

_"Winter, what's wrong?" Eddie asked as he had his hand on her shoulder, "I don't like seeing you crying..." Something he always said to her if she was crying. He hated to see his crush crying; He only wanted to see her happy. The way she was breaking down in front of him on the ground reminded him when she broke down in the sewers and Henry talked to her._

_Winter continued to look down as she cried, unable to form words._

_"Will it help if I held you, Winter?" Eddie asked empathetically._

_Winter quickly nodded as she shook and cried._

_Eddie scooted beside her so close that he put her in between his legs and hugged her really close into his body as she broke down even harder in his arms. This had been the closest he had ever been to her, and even though he didn't like to see her in this state, he felt powerful having her in his arms and that she wanted him to console her. He kept wondering what happened in the sewers during those three days she was missing that made her break down like this more than once. He really wanted to know, but she would never open up about it. He figured that she had told Henry what happened during those days in the sewers, but he wished she would open up to him about it._

_"It's okay, Winter..." Eddie said soothingly as he rubbed her back as her tears were wetting his shirt. "It's okay..." he would repeat over and over._

_After an hour of her crying in his arms, the door to the clubhouse opened and the voices of Richie, Bill, Ben, Stan, Bev and Mike were coming from the door._

_"Stan, don't be a dipshit! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't make a girl pregnant if she swallows?" Richie's voice shouted; The rest of the group laughed._

_Eddie quickly looked at Winter as she continued to cry as she was in so much mental turmoil. She looked like she would never stop crying. "I'll be right back," he said to her calmly as he got to his feet and ran over to the ladder and ran up towards the group before they could come down._

_"Hey, guys..." Eddie's face popped out to the group from the club house door, "Don't come down here. Winter and I will meet you guys later."_

_All six of them stared at Eddie questionably as he looked very serious and concerned._

_"I-Is ev-everything okay?" Bill asked concerned._

_"Yeah! We'll just meet you guys later!" Eddie said with a small reassuring smile as he closed the clubhouse door and went back to Winter crying on the floor._

_The group of teenagers looked at each other._

_"Maybe they're fucking?" Richie questioned._

_"Yeah, right!" Ben laughed as they all walked away._

_"He's covered in dirt! I don't think he would ever allow himself to be covered in dirt unless his penis was getting wet!" Richie joked._

_Mike hit him lightly in the stomach, "That's Henry's girlfriend, asshole!"_

_Eddie went back on the floor and continued to hold Winter until she stopped crying. The amount of pain in her face and how the tears wouldn't stop made him realize that she wasn't going to stop for a while, but he wanted to keep her in his arms for as long as she needed him to comfort her._


	6. Part 6: Celebrity Party & Prom 1998

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Losers! Don't forget to catch up on the characters as teenagers before you read this one. Link to Love Above the Sewers Chapter 1 below:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

Eddie woke up with the morning sun lightly hitting his face. He didn't feel too gross from drinking the whole night and barely getting any sleep.

He slowly turned his head to look at Winter who had cuddled up to him in the middle of the night in her sleep. Her body was cuddled into his with her head resting against his chest, the top of her head nuzzled underneath his chin, and her arm wrapped around his waist. Eddie smiled down at her and felt butterflies inside as she held onto him. One of his arms was trapped underneath her but he didn't mind. He pulled her even tighter into him as he reflected back on the conversations they had that night and felt so much warmth inside of himself.

Other than feeling the warmth of having his high school crush falling asleep in his arms, he just wanted to embrace every moment of them being there together. He took the opportunity as she slept to lightly kiss her forehead. 

Winter continued to keep her eyes closed as she felt lips kissing her forehead. She was still in a dream state, and as she cuddled up to Eddie, she dreamt of feeling Henry beside her. There were so many mornings she would wake up to a gentle kiss on her forehead from Henry, but she was too nervous to open her eyes and have the dream of him being beside her again disappear. 

In her dream, she felt Henry's thumb rub against her cheek as he looked at her sleepy face; _"You're the most beautiful woman in the world. I don't ever want to spend my life without you."_

Winter moved her head up as she was beginning to wake up. 

Although Winter was still in-between sleeping and waking up, and Eddie was awake watching her, he blushed and smiled as Winter lifted her face and brushed her nose against his in her sleeping state. He was so ecstatic to be waking up this way, with this woman. 

Winter slowly opened her eyes, and although it wasn't Henry beside her, she couldn't help but smile at Eddie admiring her face. 

"Good morning," he smiled at her with his arm still hugging her tightly into him. 

Winter rubbed her sleepy eyes, "Good morning, handsome." She observed the five o'clock shadow on Eddie's face, and she couldn't believe this was the same Eddie Kaspbrak from high school; He was such a handsome man now, and his smile was adorable. 

Winter felt a vibration in her back pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and read the text message her landlord, Tom Hanks had sent her:

_'Good Morning, Winter!_

_Just wanted to let you know that my mom has an appointment this morning at the hospital, so you won't need to check up on her this morning. Just check up on her tonight to make sure she has her medication and is doing okay. If you're working today, I might see you at the hospital. If not, I will see you soon. Have a great day!'_

Winter put the phone back in her pocket and looked at Eddie, "Looks like I'm free this morning. Doesn't look like I'm in a rush to get out of bed." 

Eddie smiled even more, "I got some text messages from some of my colleagues to call them when I'm available. I told them that I'm in a very important meeting right now." 

Winter giggled, "Do all your important meetings look like this?" 

"I wish," Eddie laughed. 

When Winter and Eddie finally got out of the hammock and went back to her basement apartment, Eddie was sitting in her living room as he called back his colleagues while Winter made them some breakfast. She would look at Eddie occasionally and smile at his working personality as he gave off the boss impression as he spoke to a bunch of colleagues sitting in a group at a table in New York as he was on speaker phone. She felt so proud of him for everything he's accomplished in his business. If only he was as successful in controlling his relationship like he was with his business. 

After twenty minutes of Eddie talking on the phone, he got up and joined Winter at the kitchen island where she prepared a plate of eggs, bacon and fruit for her and Eddie.

"Sorry about that," Eddie said as he sat down on the barstool at the counter and Winter stood across from him. 

"Don't be!" She said before she took a bite of bacon, "I can't imagine doing your job. It seems stressful to be the boss in a growing industry." 

Eddie chuckled, "Says the one who's job is to save peoples lives." He took a big fork-full of scrambled eggs and said, "But you were always good at knowing what to do in those situations."

Winter weakly smiled at him. Hearing comments like that always made her think of Georgie, but she always reminded herself that she was only seventeen at the time and with no resources to help her save him. 

Eddie saw the sudden drop in her expression and it reminded him that she always became a little blue whenever him or the others in their friend group said something like what he had just said. He noticed that she looked like she was going to tell him something.

Winter looked at Eddie and thought it may have been time to open up to him about the time he had to console her in his arms for three hours in the clubhouse, "Do you remember when I got trapped in the..."

Winter stopped when there was a knock at her front door. 

Eddie and Winter turned their heads towards the door as it opened.

"Hello? Winter?" Tom poked his head in, "Oh! It smells good in here!" 

Tom made his way onto the floor mat and closed the door as he smiled at Eddie and Winter from the door. 

"Hey, Tom!" Winter smiled. "Do you want some bacon and eggs?"

"No, no! Thank you, though!" he smiled. "I hope this is not a bad time?" He looked at Eddie who was not saying anything, just staring at him. He had seen many celebrities from his work, but he had never seen Tom Hanks.

Winter giggled at Eddie's expression as he looked at Tom standing there, "Eddie, this is Tom Hanks; He's the owner of the house. Tom, this is my friend, Eddie Kaspbrak; We were friends in high school and recently just bumped into each other at the hospital." 

Eddie got to his feet and extended his hand out to Tom, "It is really nice to meet you, Sir. I am a huge fan!" 

Tom took his hand and shook it, "Kaspbrak? Do you own one of the top limo companies in America?" 

Eddie blushed that Tom Hanks knew who he was; He beamed, "Yes, yes, that's me!" 

Winter smiled as she put away the dishes and watched Eddie's excited expression. Even with Henry still in her heart and mind, she couldn't help but admire Eddie's charm and smile, even his awkward tenseness in his personality.

"Listen, I'll give your company a call if you give me your card..." As Tom continued on, Eddie pulled out his wallet and pulled out a card for him, "My wife and I are usually not here in the summer time. We only live here during the winter, because it's our favourite season and this property just looks so beautiful in the winter." Tom took the card and began to chuckle, "We love the winter with Winter!" and turned to point at Winter. 

Winter bursted out laughing at the corkiness of the joke. 

"That was lame, wasn't it?" Tom asked with a faint smile.

Winter smiled, "It was a total dad joke; I liked it." She looked at Eddie who was beaming a grin at her over the corny joke.

"Yeah, that's what my kids say I'm good at," he chuckled. "Anyway, Winter, I just wanted to see if you were done that song you were writing? I was hoping you could record it and give it to me tomorrow. I was going to ask if you could perform it tonight at the party, but I won't put that pressure on you," he chuckled

 _The wedding song!_ Winter almost forgot about it. All she needed was a chorus and it would be done. 

"Um, yeah... I guess I could finish it up by tomorrow. You'll have a tape in your hands by tomorrow afternoon." she said unsurely. Winter forgot that the Hanks were throwing one of their backyard parties that evening that she would be performing at. 

"Perfect! Hey..." he turned to Eddie, "Why don't you come tonight? You can chat with some of the guests about your business. It's a very high-end party. Winter always performs for a couple of hours, but then she comes back here and never really socializes. I always tell her she can bring a date; You should come as her date!" 

Eddie smiled from Tom to Winter; Winter looked up from her dishes and smiled shyly at Eddie.

"I would love too!" Eddie accepted the invitation happily. 

"Great!" Tom exclaimed, "I'll put you on the guest-list. It's a black-tie event, so make sure to dress nicely." Tom was on his way to the door, but first he turned to Eddie; "I'll just need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement quickly." 

"Yeah, no problem, Mr. Hanks!" Eddie walked over to him. 

Tom presented him with the legal form which Eddie read and signed before Tom left. 

Eddie turned to Winter, "Did he just ask me out for you?" he beamed a smile at her. 

Winter laughed, "Yeah, I suppose that's what just happened." 

Eddie laughed lightly, "I got to get going, but I will be back for the party," He went over to Winter and gave her a big hug. As Eddie approached the door after putting on his coat and boots, he turned back to Winter, "I was about to ask you out for dinner tonight, but he took the pressure right off! Such a great guy!" 

Winter smiled at the door as Eddie left. She shook her head at the comment and giggled. Although she was happy that Eddie was back in her life and she had a different perspective on him than how she did in high school, she still felt the emptiness inside of her that wanted Henry back. Even though she found the void pathetic as she felt like there were different feelings she was having for Eddie, her and Henry just felt unfinished, and it was a very weird feeling to experience. 

Winter studied her medical training for the rest of the day. Trying to study to become a doctor was hard when the studying and the classes were only part-time. By the time she would graduate, she would probably be nearly forty. Winter didn't even want to become a doctor, she was happy being a nurse, but the studying took her mind off of Henry. And as the saying goes, _'You gotta do what you have to do to survive',_ and maybe that's something both her and Eddie needed to focus on in order to get over their own dysfunctional lives.

At 7PM, Winter was getting ready to perform to the party guests in The Hanks backyard party. The maintenance crew had spent the day clearing the snow from the ground and setting up a fancy heated tent with a stage. They were setting up dinner tables for a guest list over a hundred people.

She enjoyed performing on stage; Performing also made her feel like herself. It was performing that got her through the first few months at Derry High School, and performing with her old friends, Bill, Eddie, Stan and Richie, was the most amazing time in her life, other than the life Henry and her built together since they were sixteen. She wished that the band behind her during these performances at The Hanks were her high school best friends, and not professional musicians. 

The only thing she hated about these parties was when the famous musicians would try to find her afterwards and try to convince her to send an audio tape to their music label, or to go on tour with them. Her scars on her stomach would always burn when they approached her like that; Just like Pennywise the Clown, they all were trying to get their claws into her. 

_"Winter, you've got to perform with me at The Grammy's!" Lady Gaga took Winter's hand, almost pleading with her to join her in a performance to boost her own popularity._

_As Winter's scars on her stomach began to burn, she put on a smile and said, "It's not my thing. I'm flattered, but I would rather keep doing what I'm doing."_

_"You're going to pass this up? Winter, I can help you become famous. Everyone will know your name!" she tried harder._

_Winter took her hand away and shook her head; As she spook, all she could think of was Henry, wherever he was in the world at that moment; "I want to live in a house with the person I love... I want to spend Sunday nights watching new episodes of our favourite show together as we pig out on a bag of Doritos and wish we didn't have to go to work the next day. I want to be able to cuddle up to him and read a book together in front of a fireplace every night. I want to have a kid one day with him without anybody following us or trying to get my autograph or picture. I'm sorry Gaga, but I know what I want. I know what it's like to have people we don't want following us around, and I don't want that ever again." As she reflected on what she said, Ace, Belch and Vic popped into her mind. They were always the unwanted visitors._

Winter fixed her red and white dress as she adjusted the 'W' necklace on her neck. She was always able to make herself look like a million dollars, but she never felt like a million dollars.

That night, Winter was on the stage as usual as she sang for guests at The Hanks party. The only people she had recognized included; Steve Martin, Patty LaBelle, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Richard Gere, Tom Cruise, Cher, Jennifer Aniston, Diane Keaton, and a few other people she has seen in movies and on television but couldn't put a name to the face. 

As she choose the song list for this group of celebrities, she always remembered what Mr. Hopper told her when choosing the set-list for people depending on their age:

_"There is a lot of different people with a lot of different music tastes. There will be a lot of people there who will enjoy the rock songs, but we also need to think about the moms and grandparents who love listening to Celine Dion, Bette Midler, Elton John -- the list goes on."_

As Winter was in the middle of singing _'I Dreamed a Dream'_ from the Les Misérables musical as the band played behind her, she had finally spotted Eddie at the back of the crowd. He was chatting with a group of producers, and he would look over at Winter performing quite a bit during her performance. 

When Winter and Eddie made eye-contact, they both smiled at each other. Winter felt like she could finally relax when she saw Eddie watching her; A pair of eyes that didn't made her scars on her stomach burn as he watched her perform. All Eddie could think when he listened to her and admired her, was that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he couldn't believe how amazing her voice had become after years of trying to get her voice back after being sick in high school. Listening to her sing made him think back to how stress-free high school use to be compared to trying to live day-by-day as an adult trying to divorce a controlling woman with a Munchausen syndrome by proxy mother trying to convince him to stay with his equally insane wife. 

It had been Winter's last song of the night. Before she could walk off the stage, Bonnie Tyler had ran up to her and whispered in her ear; "Do you know _'Holding Out For A Hero'_?"

Winter had a flashback of herself singing the song at the Christmas party in 1996; She nodded, "Yeah, I performed it in high school."

"Do you want to duet with me?" she asked happily. Before Winter could answer, Bonnie grabbed her hand and led her back on the stage. 

Winter placed her hand on her stomach as she felt Bonnie's claws going through her. One thing Winter learned about the burning sensation from other people putting their claws into her, was that even though people are good and she enjoyed their company, sometimes they didn't have good intensions when it came to her singing talent; They wanted her talent all to themselves to put them on top. 

As the music started for ' _Holding Out For A Hero'_ , Winter smiled as she saw Eddie walking closer to the stage to take a video on his phone. It was interesting to Winter that out of everyone in that room, the only person she felt who didn't want to use her or take advantage of her was Eddie; Everyone else in that tent had their claws going through her the size of a grizzly bear, or a tiger, or an alien species that dressed like a clown. 

Although she continued to feel the burning in her stomach, she did her best (as usual) to hide the pain she was experiencing in her stomach. No one in the audience knew that it felt like her stomach was on fire as she performed with Bonnie Tyler and danced around the stage with her as they took turns singing the verses of the song and then singing together during the chorus. 

_"I need a hero,  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,  
He's gotta be sure,  
And it's gotta be soon,  
And he's gotta be larger than life,  
I need a hero,  
_

_I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night."_

Bonnie hugged Winter before they both exited the stage. She finally could feel her stomach not burning anymore. 

"You're amazing!" Eddie showed up beside her and gave her a big hug, "How did you get your voice back? It's better than before!" 

Winter smiled, "Lots of time learning how to project my voice from my diaphragm rather than my lungs." 

"Wow!" he beamed at her, "Yeah, it sounded like your voice was filling up the whole room. I think a bunch of these producers and talent scouts are checking you out." 

Winter nodded, "It happens every time. I've told at least five-hundred people that I'm not interested since I've moved here." 

As Eddie and Winter continued to talk, Celion Dion went over to the two of them to talk to Winter. 

"You must be the beautiful Winter!" she exclaimed in her French accent. 

Winter smiled, as well as Eddie; "Yep! That's me! It's an honour to meet you, Mrs. Dion!" 

"I find you fascinating, Winter. You're studying to be a doctor, yet by now, you could be on the top music charts in the world." 

Winter giggled uncomfortably (here we go again!), "Yeah, my passion is fixing people. It's something I've just known how to do since I was a teenager."

"A passion like that doesn't just pop up one day out of nowhere; Something must have happened when you were young to make you want to save peoples lives," she mentioned. 

_"NO! NO! NO! GEORGIE?! You gotta keep humming, Georgie, please! PLEASE!"_

_"HE'S DEAD!" Lily cried._

_"COME ON, GEORGIE! I can't give up on him... I got to keep trying!"_

_She cried as she laid her head on Georgie's still chest, "I'm sorry, Billy..." she cried. "I'm so sorry..."_

"I can't think of anything. It's just something I've had a passion for my whole life..." Winter smiled softly, not letting the demons of her past get to her. 

Eddie watched as Winter answered Celine; He knew there was more to the trauma inside of Winter that she would never tell anyone. Everybody's life path was born from a traumatic event.

"Very fascinating!" she commented again, "But, please, Winter, give me the honour one day to sing with you."

Winter nodded, "Of course!" 

As Celine walked away, Winter was surprised at how her scars weren't burning as much as they would when any other high-profile people would try to convince her to start a new career in the music business. She considered that maybe Celine's intensions were actually genuine. 

"I'm sorry, Winter..." Eddie said as he looked at his phone; he looked sick to his stomach and worried, "Myra's texting me non-stop... I'm going to call her. Can I just go in your apartment quickly? I promise I'll be quick." 

_'Oh, Edz... if you only had the scars from the clown on your stomach, you would know how much Myra and your mom have their claws digging into you...'_ Winter thought.

"Yeah, of course..." Winter softly smiled, "Take your time." 

Winter watched Eddie walk away tensely in his tux and pushed back hair; He really did look great tonight. 

As she waited for Eddie to get back, she sat down at an empty table in the tent as the guests began dancing on the dance floor to the music the DJ was playing. Winter sat there, looking at the guests. She actually hated these big parties. She never liked big parties.

For a second, as she looked at a group of young producers, she nearly thought she was losing her mind when she thought she saw Henry in his prom outfit. It only took a moment for her eyes to adjust and realize that her subconscious was only playing games with her guilty mind. It wasn't the first time something like that would happen. Apparently, when someone misses someone else, their subconscious can find any similarities in other people, and for a split second, they could see them entirely as the person they are missing. 

As Winter continued to watch the guests in their small groups dancing, it reminded her of senior prom night in 1998. 

_Winter went up to Mike, "Have you seen my date?"_

_"You know Henry... He's probably trying to do something to surprise you since he knows you hate big crowds," he said._

_Within seconds, Henry was beside her in a flash. He was wearing black pants, a black dress shirt, and a green tie. He wanted to match his green tie to Winter's green prom dress._

_Winter smiled at Henry, "Where did you go?"_

_Henry moved a strand of hair from Winter's face and tucked it behind her ear. He kissed her sweetly, and then lovingly looked into her eyes as he said, "I know prom is like a traditional end of high school kinda thing that everyone talks about all year, but you really don't want to be here, do you?"_

_Winter smiled tightly, not wanting to say no, but she really didn't want to be there; She would have rather been alone with Henry._

_Henry laughed, "You can say it... You know I don't want to be here either!"_

_"I'd rather be eating a whole pizza in my bed with you while we binge watch X-Files..." she blurted out._

_Henry laughed more, "That's what I thought, and that's my idea of a perfect night, too!"_

_"But I don't want to leave prom, since... you know... it's all anyone talks about during the four years of high school..." she looked around uncomfortably. It didn't dawn on her until that night that Henry's introverted personality, especially after recovering from the sewers trauma, really rubbed off on her. It mostly had to do with the scars on her stomach, though... Even a random guy's flirtatious look could make them burn. Being at prom that night, guys were looking at her from every spot in the decorated gymnasium._

_Henry kissed her cheek and then whispered into her ear, "I've got something better than this."_

_Winter looked at him curiously, wondering what he had been doing for the past twenty minutes when he disappeared._

_He took her hand and walked her out of the room. As they joked and laughed as they walked to the third floor of the school, he led her to a doorway that she had never opened before. When Henry opened it, there was only a staircase going up. He led her up the stairs and opened the door at the top of the staircase._

_They were on the roof of the school on that warm Friday night._

_Henry had hung up white Christmas lights in a small area and lit up candles on the ground. There was also a blanket with pillows and some take-out hamburgers laying in their boxes on the blanket._

_"Oh, my God!" Winter exclaimed. "Henry! You did all this?"_

_Henry laughed at her excitement as he admired her beauty, "I'd do anything to make you happy. I knew just the two of us at prom together, away from the rest of the seniors, would make you happy."_

_Winter looked up to the clear starlit sky and felt the beauty of the set-up overwhelm her. She looked at Henry and put her hands through his hair and kissed him passionately over and over again._

_"You're so amazing. I am the luckiest girl in the world," she said as her forehead touched his._

_He looked into her eyes, "YOU'RE the most amazing girl in the world, and I'M the luckiest man on this planet. I would do anything to keep you happy."_

_"I just want to be with you forever; That's what will keep me happy."_

_"We will be together forever. You're my soulmate until the day I die," he said to her seriously. "And, look..." he went over to the door leading into the school and pushed it open with a door stopper, "If we keep the door open, we can still hear the music. It's like we're not missing the prom at all."_

_Winter smiled at him adoringly. It was a slow song playing; It was 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Keane, "Will you dance with me, baby?"_

_Henry smiled, "On prom night? Of course I will!"_

_He put his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his shoulders. He kept his forehead against hers as they swayed side to side, and they would share small kisses with each other as they stared deeply into each others eyes; "Just so you know, when we were in the gym with the other seniors, you're the only person I saw. No one is as beautiful as you are. It's not just prom either, anywhere we go, you're the only person I see."_

_Winter smiled at him, "You mean that?"_

_"Of course!" he smiled, "I don't want to dance with anyone else the rest of my life. Also, I don't want to kiss anyone else, I don't want to have sex with anyone else, I don't want to talk to anyone the way we talk to each other... Before you, I just played basketball, read, and hung out with my family. Once I met you, I just wanted to look at you, talk to you, and only be with you."_

_Winter smiled, "Henry, I love you so much. I've never wanted anyone else either. Being with you gives me so many butterflies, and it makes me feel totally sick, but if we weren't together, I don't think I would be stable. I'd probably be super depressed and numb. I think we're each other's methadone in this shitty world."_

_"Yeah, we are, baby..." he kissed her lips. "I know you and Eddie like to dance together and keep up with the newest dance moves, but if I ever catch him trying to dance with you like this, I would smash his head against the wall!"_

_Winter laughed, "I would never dance with Edz like this. I only want to be intimate like this with you. Besides... we are talking about Eddie here..."_

_Henry laughed, "That's true. I like the little dude, nothing against him and those super cool dance moves he has going on," Henry joked._

_Winter giggled, "Oh yeah, they're super cool," she said sarcastically as she thought about her and her friend trying to dance like they do in the movies._

_Henry laughed at her sarcasm as he stared at her face, "God, you're beautiful when you laugh," he kissed her forehead._

_Winter smiled and looked over to the blanket he had laid out to look out into the city and stars. She looked at him and kissed his lips, "Were you feeling lucky tonight? Is that why you laid out the blanket?"_

_Henry looked over to the blanket and smiled, "Actually, I think if we did it up here tonight, we would have made love in every single room and area of the school."_

_Winter bursted out laughing, "You're right!" She put her hands through his hair and crushed his lips into hers. Within a second, she could already feel his wood poking her crotch. She slid her hands to his belt, undoing it and zipping off his pants as fast as she could._

_"I love your dress... Do you want to keep it on?" he suggested in between kisses._

_"I'm glad you said that, because this thing was hard to put on," she smiled in between kisses._

_She slid off her undies and they went over to the blanket._

"I just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight!" 

Winter snapped out of her flashback from the amplified voice. She turned her attention to the stage and noticed Tom standing there with the microphone. 

"I want to thank the beautiful Winter Callaghan for performing for us tonight!" 

Everyone clapped as they smiled at Winter; Winter smiled back as she looked at the crowd. 

"I also want to thank the caterers, DJ Smith, Lexington Decorations, and the maintenance people who could get all the snow off the ground in time for the event. Don't feel like you have to leave yet! We are only as young as we feel, so please stay and continue chatting, dancing and having a great time!" 

Everyone clapped for Tom. 

Winter wondered if Eddie was okay since he had been gone for more than half hour. She thought she must have looked so crazy sitting at the table by herself as she stared out onto the dance floor thinking about her high school prom. 

She got up and made her way to her basement apartment where Eddie said he was going. 

Winter quietly opened the door as she could hear Eddie on the phone. She closed the door behind her and quietly took off her shoes as she looked at Eddie who was sitting on the bar stool at her kitchen island, his back to her as he sat there. 

"You can't threaten me with my money, Myra! I will pay you alimony, but I'm not going to let you threaten me by telling me that you will destroy MY business and take ALL my money! You can't do that! It's my money that I've made! I bought you a Goddamn house, a car, I moved us from New York to Maine so you can be closer to your family! Now you want ALL my money?! Do you want me to give you my fucking spleen, too? How about a fucking kidney?!"

Winter bit her lip as she listened. All this time she had been hanging out with Eddie, she mostly talked about everything that was happening in her life; She should have thought about all the problems going on in Eddie's life. 

There was loud yelling coming from the other end of the phone, but Winter couldn't make out what Myra was saying to him. By the way Eddie was moving his hands from the table to his forehead and changing his position a lot, it was not good. 

"Don't say I have fucking bad kidneys, Myra! I was joking about the whole kidney thing, and now you're trying to make me paranoid by saying that my kidneys are no good and will shut down!" He hit his hand against the table as she was talking over him, "I should have never married you! You and my mom are basically the same person; Always trying to make me fucking paranoid about my health and making me feel like I'm worthless!" 

Winter wished she didn't walk in on this. 

"Myra? Myra?!" She had hung up on him. Eddie dropped his phone against the table and took his wallet from the table and threw it at the fridge door. He put his hands to his face and sighed loudly. 

Winter put her hand behind her neck and bit her lip. She slowly walked over to him and sat beside him at the kitchen island. 

Eddie looked up surprised at her; She could tell how stressed out he was with his lines forming on his forehead and the tense look he had on his face. 

"Fuck! You heard all of that?" he asked embarrassed, "I'm sorry I left you out there... She's really something else." 

Winter looked at him and listened intently before she asked, "Why would you marry a woman like that, Edz? You've told me in high school what type of woman you wanted to marry, and your description was nothing like your mother." 

Eddie sighed again, "Like I said; I was use to living with my mom, and I guess I was afraid about change, so I went with Myra who did the same things my mom would do for me. It's stupid, I know. I'm fucking embarrassed by it." 

"Don't be embarrassed..."

"I am, though! I have control over my job, but I have zero control in my household or in my relationship. I'm a person who needs control over everything in my life, or else I feel like I'm walking blind-folded on eggshells. She wants to take everything away from me, and that makes me feel like I'm going to lose control over everything!" 

Winter stared at his face as he continued to talk. He looked like he just needed to vent. 

"I didn't ever think I would ever feel anything for a woman with my heart. I thought that I would end up with a woman like my mom or be alone, and I didn't want to be alone. There was only one person I ever felt feelings for from my heart, but she never saw me that way..." 

"Did you meet her in college?" Winter asked, interested to know who Eddie ever had feelings for. 

"No, it was in high school," As he continued to talk, his head was telling him to shut up, but he kept going. "She was the sweetest, smartest, easiest person to talk to... And fuck, she was gorgeous!" 

"Really?" Winter smiled, becoming very interested, "Was it Bev?"

"No..." Eddie put his hand to his forehead and rubbed it, still thinking of the conversation he had with Myra as he continued to speak, "Bev was cool, but I always saw her as one of the guys." 

"Then who was it?" 

Eddie sighed, "Just this girl in a couple of my classes." 

Winter let out a tiny giggle, "You never mentioned her to me... How did you go through high school without telling her how you feel?" 

Eddie continued to rub his head as he was distracted in his own thoughts, paying no attention to what he was saying, "I just kept her as close as I could. She was my best friends, and that..." Eddie stopped talking as he realized what he said. 

Winter stared at him wide-eyed. Eddie's voice as a teenager echoed in her memory as she remembered wrapping his cast in plastic wrap, _"If you feel scared in the sewer, just look over at me and remember that I'm scared too. We don't have to be scared alone. We're best friends after-all."_

"Edz..." Winter felt a loss of words. She was wondering how she couldn't tell he liked her more than a friend, "I'm so sorry that I never knew..."

Eddie panicked, as if the fifteen year old in him was coming out and surfacing. He jumped out of his stool after she said that she was sorry and he didn't listen to the rest of what she said. He thought right away that she was going to reject him, and he could feel his palms become sweaty and his heart racing. 

"No! No! It's okay! I shouldn't have said anything!" Eddie said, trying not to look at Winter as she stared up at him surprised at his anxiety. She could see the teenage Eddie coming out with the anxiety coming to the surface and his hand cutting threw the air as he talked, "I know I'm nothing like Henry. Henry would have killed for your safety, and well... Shit! I'm scared of people who have a cough, thinking that they'll infect me with their germs. You like guys like Henry who can protect the woman he loves. I'm sure you and Henry spent your weekends together reading, having long talks until sunrise, having great sex all night, going to concerts, getting tattoos, and just doing all those cool things that Henry would do! Me? Well, I spend my Saturday nights cleaning my house. Jesus Christ, I'm apart of the fucking Mr. Clean Fanclub on Facebook! I'm a fucking top-fan!" 

Winter continued to listen to him as she sat there surprised, "Edz... I think we should talk about..."

"Winter, it's been fun these past couple of nights, and you've made me forget about my life a lot, but I should probably go!" Eddie quickly grabbed his coat and blackberry before making a run for the door and running outside. 

Winter stared in shock at her kitchen table. She couldn't believe how Eddie just ran out nervous to hear what she had to say to him. Of course, she wanted Henry back more than anything, but if Eddie's life was shitty and her life was shitty, why couldn't they comfort each other and see what could happen from there? 

Winter sighed and grabbed her phone, "Edz, we need to talk about this..." she said to herself as she clicked on Eddie's name and put the phone to her ear. 

He didn't answer. 

"Fuck!" Winter said. She put on her shoes quickly to see if he was still in the driveway. 

When she opened the door, Eddie had run back to the door. She stared at him as he let himself in. His eyes shifted from her to the floor, "I'm sorry... I forgot my wallet..." He stared at her surprised face as she continued to observe every line and detail of his face. 

"Edz?" she grabbed his arm. "Why did you run off like that?"

Eddie sighed and put his hand to his forehead, "After I said everything, I remembered how you use to look at me in high school... Like a little kid... And I just felt stupid for letting it slip out that I was really into you in high school." 

Winter felt sad that she always looked at him as a kid in high school. She remembered he once talked to her about that back when she was in the hospital, and she really never meant to look at him that way. He was her best friend in high school, and she always cared about him. 

"I'm so sorry, Edz..." She put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him quickly before placing her hand on the side of his face so he would look at her, "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like a kid by how I looked at you, and I'm sorry I never realized that you liked me." 

He looked at her with their faces so close, "Well, I get that you only had eyes for Henry back then... And, even though you looked at me as a kid, I still felt like a man around you... But I can see now that you don't look at me like you did when we were in high school." 

"No, I don't see you the same way like in high school," she said to him quickly before crushing her lips onto his and kissing him deeply. 

Eddie kissed back and wrapped his arms around her waist. He closed the door behind him and wrapped her even tighter in his arms. He loved how soft her lips were and how her warm soft hands scrunched through his hair and ran down his chest. 

As Winter kissed him, she thought about how Eddie was the only person she had ever kissed other than Henry. Although he wasn't Henry, she felt herself succumb sexually to that physical pain need she's had for four years to get over the mental pain. She wanted to feel him pound all the numbness and mental pain out of her, even if it was for a few minutes. She just wanted to feel something other than feeling numb and depressed, and if Eddie needed to feel more control in his life, then why not start in the bedroom? 


	7. Part 7: Eddie's Life-Long Dream Comes True

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This had been Eddie's dream since he was 15 years old... It needed a whole chapter :P! Can we get a "WHOOT!" for Edz???  
> Enjoy, losers! Henry is coming back soon - I promise!!!!!
> 
> Read Love Above The Sewers Chapter 1 in the link below:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

Winter and Eddie sat on her bed. The lights were dim and Winter sat on Eddie's lap with her legs wrapped around him. She was in her bra and panties as Eddie sat in his boxers. Since Eddie was very inexperienced, she wanted him to know all the tricks in being a good love-maker. 

They kissed each other's lips for a long time; Winter had her hand on Eddie's cheek and he had his arms wrapped around her waist. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. 

"Have you ever kissed with your tongue?" she asked him, unsure of what Eddie's boundaries were since he was scared of germs and bodily fluids.

Eddie let out a laugh as he blushed at the idea, "No... No, I haven't." (Well... he did once... but that will be explained in a future chapter.)

"Do you want to?" Winter smiled; It was like the older experienced woman was teaching the younger inexperienced man, even if they were just a year and a half apart. 

Eddie smiled at her, his dick so hard underneath her, "Yeah! I want to do everything with you. For the record, anyone else I would say no to swapping that much spit!"

Winter bursted out laughing, "Very romantic, Edz! You're such a sweet-talker." 

"I hear that sarcasm!" he teased. 

"So, just follow my lead; I'm going to part your lips with my tongue, and when the tip of my tongue is in your mouth, just massage it with yours slowly. Just relax your tongue and don't go any faster with your speed until I go faster..." she instructed. 

He looked at her with wide-eyes at her instruction, "I'm so fucking turned on right now."

"My tongue hasn't even been in your mouth yet, Edz. One thing at a time," she laughed. His inexperience and excitement was so adorable. "Ready?" 

Eddie nodded very excitedly. 

"Okay..." she was about to go in for the kiss before she stopped. "Wait, first..." she unclipped her bra and threw it at the foot of the bed. 

Eddie stared at her perky breasts. He remembered seeing them bounce around on the picnic table when she was seventeen when he saw her and Henry having sex; They had grown a bit since then. 

Winter smiled at Eddie as he stared at them; "You can touch them..." 

Eddie looked from her breasts to her face repeatedly, "You would think I was a virgin by how I'm acting right now, but this is like my biggest dream come true to have you like this with me." 

Winter smiled adoringly at him, "It's okay, Edz... Just relax..." she took his hand and guided his hand to her boob, "Just relax and take charge of what you want. You want these? Then take control of them." She mentally patted herself on the shoulder for starting off like this in helping Eddie learn how to take control. After all, she was the one who told him to always take the lead in their dance class fifteen years ago. 

Eddie stared as he watched the soft breast squeeze in his hand. He would stop and circle her nipple with his thumb before continuing to squeeze. 

Winter let out a tiny moan every time he squeezed a bit harder. He looked at her face, feeling like such a man, to hear those sounds escape her lips over him. 

"See? You're doing really good!" Winter smiled as she was becoming more wet. She slowly slid her crotch against his hard cock as they still wore their underwear. 

Eddie bit his lower lip as he enjoyed her dancing against his dick, "Fuck!" he whispered loudly. He smashed his lips against hers and kissed her passionately. Winter slid her tongue into his mouth, parting his lips apart and massaging her tongue against his. Eddie followed her speed and kept his tongue relaxed as he reciprocated. 

As they continued to kiss, Winter wrapped her hand around Eddie's cock on top of the fabric from his boxers. Eddie let out a small moan from her touch. 

Eddie supported her back as he pulled her more into his waist so he could lay her on her back. 

Winter let out a tiny yelp from the surprise and began to giggle. 

"My cock is about to rip through my boxers!" Eddie said as he took off his boxers. As he grabbed Winter's panties to rip them off of her, she took the moment to glance to see Eddie's cock. Never in a million years did she ever think she would be doing this with him. 

"I'm on the pill, but I don't know if you wanted to put on a condom. I haven't had anyone other than Henry, so I know I'm clean," she said slowly to him, unsure if having unprotected sex was something he was okay with. 

Eddie shook his head, "I've always worn a condom with Myra, but it's a dream come true to feel every part of you." 

Winter eyes sparked at his comment; She had no idea how much he really wanted her until he, a major germaphobe, rejected a condom to feel all of her. This was going to be a whole new experience for him. 

"I think I know how you like it," Eddie smiled at her as he thought about how she was screaming in pleasure that day on the picnic table. Out of all the moments he forgot from high school, he was happy that the memory of how she liked being fucked stayed in his memory forever. 

Winter giggled, intrigued; "Alright, Edz! You show me how I like it! The lead is yours!" She joked; She had no idea how he figured he would know how she liked to be the submissive one who liked to receive a lot of aggression, pounding and control. And since Eddie had a need to be in control of his life and a lot of aggression from having barely any control in his relationship the past eight years, Winter had no idea how much he needed to take control and let out his aggression. 

Eddie placed the tip of his cock at the hole of her pussy and pushed in. Right away, he moaned at the feeling of being inside of his high school crush. Winter let out a tiny moan. Right away, Eddie began pushing in and out of her slowly. 

"Oh, my God!" he moaned out before putting his body weight on top of her and kissing her cheek down to her neck. 

He grabbed onto her thigh and began to go faster. 

Winter moaned more and closed her eyes as he nibbled on her neck. She put her hands through his hair, and he grabbed them right away and held them above her head like he remembered Henry doing on the picnic table. 

Winter was taken back by his sudden control and it made her pussy squirt out juices. 

"Fuck! You squirted on my cock!" he said before he began pounding her harder and faster. 

As Winter felt him take control and let out his aggression into her, she couldn't believe that he did know how she liked it. She closed her eyes, but the image that came to her was Henry's face aged between sixteen to the last time she had sex with him in their apartment. The way he was fucking her reminded her of Henry having sex with her. The images in her memory made her moan and her pussy began to juice even more. 

As she moaned out-loud, she opened her eyes to look at Eddie. _'No Winter, be here with Edz... Not in the past with Henry...'_ she thought to herself. Although she loved the way Eddie was having sex with her, Henry's face still popped up and it would turn her on even more. 

Eddie let her hands go and she gripped onto his back as he continued to go faster and moan more. 

"Fuck! I don't want this night to end!" Eddie said before he let out another moan and pushed himself even harder into her.

Winter began breathing heavily as he continued to pound her. 

Eddie quickly stopped and grabbed his inhaler from the night table. He inhaled two large inhales. "I swear I've never had to grab my inhaler during sex before," Eddie said with a satisfied smile as he caught his breath. 

Winter giggled at him having to stop to take his inhaler. His dick was still in her and she was squirming her body, wanting more. He needed his placebo more than she needed her actual medicine from her inhaler.

Winter sat up, causing Eddie to sit on the bed. His cock was still inside of her as she sat on his lap and began to bounce on his dick. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he gripped onto her back as she rode his cock. He stared up at her face as she let little moans escape her lips. Just the look on her face made him very turned on. 

She pushed her lips against his and kissed him passionately as she continued to bounce on him, sliding her tongue into his mouth. As he played with her tongue with his, he grabbed onto her ass and parted her butt cheeks apart. 

When they stopped kissing, Winter moaned as she orgasmed on his lap. 

"Holy shit! Your juices are running down my balls!" he said as he breathed heavily. 

He flipped her back onto her back and took control. He pounded as hard as he could and went in as fast as he could. 

As she moaned more, he went in deeper and faster. He grabbed the headboard with one hand and fucked her as hard as she could. Winter moaned louder, and it caused Eddie to reach his peak. 

With a few last thrusts, he came. It was the first time he had ever cum from having sex as he mentioned before that he thought he had a problem since he had never came inside Myra before.

As he thrusted while he was coming, he repeated "Fuck!" over and over again and breathed heavily. His face lit up and it was the most pleasure he had ever experienced before in his life. 

Eddie slowly pulled his cock out of her as he continued to breathe heavily. He grabbed onto his inhaler again and inhaled a few times as the sweat was forming on his face. 

"Edz!" Winter exclaimed as she sat back up in the bed, "You're really good!" 

Eddie laughed as he tried to catch his breath, "Oh, my God! That was amazing!" he said as he smiled as if he took a handful of drugs to relax him. He put his hand to his chest and realized his heart was beating really fast, which concerned him, "I think I'm having a heart attack." 

Winter laughed, "That's suppose to be how you feel after really good sex." 

"So, I'm not having a heart attack?" he asked as he continued smiling. He didn't know whether to be smiling from the sex or concerned for his pounding heart. 

"No, you're not!" she giggled as she pulled him in for a quick kiss, "If you were having a heart attack, I'd be really impressed by how good I am!" she joked. "Plus, I'm a nurse, so I would know!"

Eddie laughed, "So, that's how sex is supposed to feel like?" 

Winter nodded, "Yes! Congratulations! You've just experienced good sex." 

Eddie beamed a smile at her, "Can we do that more? I've never felt so good before in my life!"

Winter smiled, "Yeah, we can do that more," she kissed his cheek. She definitely didn't feel numb or depressed when they were having sex, so she wanted to do it more than he could imagine. Plus, if she were having sex with anyone other than the love of her life, she was happy it was with Eddie, who needed to feel happiness again just as much as she did. 

As they laid down naked in bed with his arm around her, Eddie smiled at her in such a way that she had never seen him smile before, exposing his dimples and all his laugh lines. He was beaming like he had just won the lottery. 

"I wish I didn't have to be up early tomorrow, but I have a meeting in the morning..." he said as he looked at his watch and noticed that it was already 2AM and they were having sex for two hours. If he didn't stop himself from cumming all the times that he did, he figured he would have came within two minutes with how turned on he was. He was happy he took breaks so he could make it last for as long as he could. This was his dream come true, he wanted to go for as long as possible. "This is the second night you've kept me up past 10PM."

Winter laughed, "I'm glad I can make less sleep enjoyable for you." 


	8. Part 8: Richie Tozier's Netflix Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, guys! Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have Coronavirus?! What are the chances?! :O
> 
> Enjoy this new part :)
> 
> Make sure to start with the first story to this series before you read this:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

The weeks had gone by pretty peaceful for the most part. Right away, Eddie was living in Winter's basement apartment. He had moved out of his mom's house during his separation and he hadn't heard from Myra... He figured it was a good sign. Winter was able to sleep more peacefully with Eddie by her side at night, especially since they had exhausted themselves nearly every night with how much sex they were having. They hadn't labeled themselves as a couple, however it felt like a relationship for the most part. Since Eddie was in the middle of a separation and Winter was still not ready to get into a relationship, especially with Henry popping into her mind a lot, they both weren't ready to put a name to their relationship yet. 

It was obvious that Eddie wanted to be her boyfriend, though. 

The day after they first had sex, he came back that morning after his meeting with fifty flowers, a box of chocolates, a big teddy bear, and a house tree (according to Eddie, he really wanted to bring Winter home some balloons, but given their history with the clown, he figured he was safer bringing home a house tree even though it seemed weird). 

The new grin was plastered on his face for weeks-on-end at home and at work. Even when colleagues would ask if they could have a raise, he still was grinning ear-to-ear with happiness as he told them 'no'. The man was in love, but he didn't want to say it as Winter still had Henry in her heart no matter how much he took her mind off of him, and he didn't know how long this quiet period would last with his mom or Myra not calling or texting him.

** Wednesday March 21, 2012 **

_"So, you know all those new ways of dating now, right? We've got meeting off of the internet now... Honestly, when I was a kid, my mom and teachers would always shun meeting people off of the internet, and now we're basically dinning and sixty-ninning after a day of chatting with random strangers on the internet!"_

As the audience exploded with laughter on the television. Eddie and Winter watched Richie Tozier's Netflix Special with questionable expressions. 

"Well... at least the audience thinks he's funny..." Winter commented as she looked from the television to her hands as she was painting her finger nails dark blue. She looked over at Eddie who was silent as he continued to watch with a serious expression on his face, "Do you find him funny?" 

"Oh yeah; This is my impressed look," he said sarcastically as he concentrated on the television. 

Winter giggled at the look on his face and the seriousness in his sarcastic comment. 

He looked at her, "The only actual funny thing about this is that he got a Netflix special."

Winter snorted, "I can't believe he found you on Facebook just to tell you to watch it."

Richie had been messaging Eddie for a couple of days to watch the special, and since Eddie had put his profile picture of him and Winter together with the caption, _"Found my best friend from high school!"_ as they made funny faces in the picture while they were outside on a walk one snowy afternoon, Richie wanted him to tell Winter to watch it, too, since she wasn't on Facebook. No one had any suspicion that they were living together and had formed an intimate relationship. No one knew that Eddie was going through a separation from his wife, and no one knew that Henry and Winter weren't together anymore. Everyone figured that they re-kindled their friendship from high school, and that was all. 

The only thing the picture did was cause a big reaction from their friends from high school that Eddie had on his Facebook, which included Bill, Bev, Stan and Ben, and now Richie. They had commented all in the comment section of the photo:

 **Beverly Marsh:** _'Seeing this picture made me SO happy! Winter is looking BEAUTIFUL!'_

**Bill Denbrough:** _'I stared at this picture for way too long and felt way too happy. Miss you guys so much!'_

**Ben Hanscom:** _'Who are these two good looking goofballs? :P'_

**Stanley Uris:** _'Um... Is this a sign that we need to get the band back together soon?'_

 **The Real Richie T:** _'Is this a campaign photo about how adults with asthma can have fun too? #SupportLosersWithAsthma'_

Eddie never found Mike on Facebook, and he made sure to put the privacy of the photo to only be seen by his friends so if Henry or Myra ever came across his account, they wouldn't be able to see the photo unless Eddie accepted their friend requests. 

_"I've had enough talking about all this adult bullshit; I want to talk about my high school days!"_

"Oh, shit!" Eddie exclaimed, becoming nervous about all the stories Richie had that could embarrass him. 

"Now I'm interested!" Winter put her full attention on the television. 

_"You might not believe this, but I was a loser in high school..."_

The audience roared with laughter.

"How is that funny?!" Eddie exclaimed confused with his hand pointed up in the air as if he were flabbergasted. 

Winter giggled at Eddie's reaction and patted his leg; She laughed more at Eddie's comments and expressions throughout the special than Richie's gig. 

_"I had about eight really close friends..."_ he looked closely at the camera and made a serious face as he said very quickly, _"Bill, Eddie, Stan, Ben, Mike, Bev, Winter, Henry!"_

"I feel like he's staring into my soul right now..." Winter commented.

"I can't believe he's using our real first names..." he put his hand to his forehead, and then continued to watch. 

_"Well, Henry first tried to kill me, and THEN we became friends..."_ The audience laughed. _"The best way to get out of a situation where someone is trying to murder you is to become a really good friend with them."_

Winter shifty-eyed around the room as the audience laughed, thinking his material on Henry was off-putting since he was possessed by Ace during the time. 

_"Henry was dating my friend, Winter... No, not the month!"_

The audience died of laughter.

"It's a season, you moron!" Eddie exclaimed at the television. 

Richie paused and smiled at the camera, _"I'm just joking, Eddie; I know it's a season. You can calm down now. I already know that he's at home yelling at the TV because I said that..."_

Eddie stared wide-eyed at the television as the audience laughed, including Winter. That had been the funniest moment that came out of the special. 

_"Eddie was always so dramatic! He was one of those people that needed to correct you all the time. You know when some people post on Facebook, and they might write something like, 'You're going the wrong way'', but they spelled the word 'you're' like Y-O-U-R, but it's supposed to be Y-O-U-'R-E? Yeah, he was one of those grammatically correct assholes that needed to throw in his two-cents."_

Winter's eyes went wide at the comment as the audience roared louder with laughter. She bit her lip as she looked at Eddie. After fourteen years of not seeing each other, Richie was being a bit too much of an asshole, especially on television. 

Eddie was pissed, but he held it in and just said, "I should have killed him that day in your bedroom." 

Winter thought back to the day in her bedroom when all of her friends came over to explain the prophecy of the clown to her, and Richie and Eddie were bickering back and forth. 

_"Anyway, back to Winter..."_ Richie cleared his throat, _"She was the coolest chick in my high school! Aw man, she was such a sweetheart. She had an amazing singing voice, like better than musician's you hear today on the radio..."_

"I like this so far!" Winter smiled. 

_"She was kind of like this girl-next-door chick... She was pretty punk rock, too, but our music teacher always encouraged her to sing songs from Celine Dion, Bette Midler, and all those real classy type of singers. Shout out quickly to Mr. Hopper! Best teacher ever!"_

"That's pretty insensitive..." Eddie commented. 

Winter shrugged slightly, "He probably doesn't know. Besides, you didn't know he was dead until I told you." 

_"When she sang, everyone would shut up! You could hear a pin-drop with how quiet the room would become. Winter taught me something very valuable in my life..."_

Winter tilted her head, "I did?" 

_"And that is..."_ he put up his index finger so everyone would listen carefully; The audience giggled a bit in response. He waited until everyone was quiet, _"When you're on a walk on a very nice sunny day, you should always take a moment to see what people are doing on picnic tables, because you might get a free porn show staring the hottest girl from your high school."_

The audience roared with laughed. 

Both Winter's and Eddie's jaws dropped. 

"OH, MY GOD!" Winter exclaimed at the television as she stood up.

Eddie kept thinking, _'We were supposed to take that to our grave, you asshole!'_ He stared up at Winter, just as pissed off at Richie as she was. 

Winter looked at Eddie, "Did you see me and Henry on the picnic table in the Barrens, too?!" 

Eddie quickly shook his head, "I don't know what he's talking about..." he lied. Winter can kick Richie's ass, but just like Bill and Stan, Eddie was taking it to his grave. "On a brighter note, at least he's not using our full names..." 

Winter and Eddie looked back at the television as Richie shook his butt and sang, _"'When I think about you I touch myself...'"_

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "You fucking asshole!" Eddie looked back at Winter, "I'll kill him if you want me to." 

Winter forced a very forced smile and said, "Nope!" She shook her head, "I'm going to be the one who kills him if I have to."

"This can't get anymore embarrassing..." Eddie said as he grabbed Winter's hand and pulled her back on the sofa to keep watching. 

_"We all did some weird shit when we were teenagers. At one point, we even decided to go in the sewers and chase ghosts..."_ The audience laughed. _"I don't know why the fuck we went in the sewers. We might have been looking for the Ninja Turtles or some shit, because, if I remember correctly, we did bring a little fucking turtle with us that we believed had super powers... All I know is that we all had very hyper-active imaginations."_

"Hmm... He doesn't remember the clown... Bill doesn't remember either..." Winter commented. 

_"Back to my friend, Eddie, who has a VERY active imagination..."_

"Oh, fuck! Why me again?" Eddie exclaimed. 

_"This one day... I don't know if Eddie was high off drugs or what made him hallucinate what he saw... Bill, Stan and myself found him passed out with his shirt off and his belt unbuckled in the library..."_

"NOPE!" Eddie jumped up and turned off the television. 

Winter looked at him wide-eyed, wondering what happened that day in the library that no one talks about. 

"But I want to know what happened at the library!" Winter teased, "You got to hear about Henry and me having sex on a picnic table."

 _'That's not news...'_ Eddie thought. He sighed, "I'm not going to tell you what happened, but I will tell you something I haven't told you yet..." 

_'At least this will get her mind off of the library...'_ Eddie thought.

Winter pipped up interested, "Okay... What is it?" 

Eddie sighed again and sat back down, "This is the reason why I don't have many friends, because I don't know who I can trust, and I've been scared to tell you because I don't want you to see me differently."

Winter realized he was serious, "What is it, Edz?"

It took him a moment to blurt out the words, "I'm a millionaire." 

Winter stared at him wide eyed, "You're a millionaire?" 

"Well... Almost a billionaire..." He continued to watch her expression as her eyes went wider, "I use to be a big stock player on Wall Street. I sold all my stocks, and my limo business is very successful. I'm one of the richest people in America, like in the top fifty."

"Uh-huh..." Winter said as she let it sink in. 

Eddie watched her face as she became quiet. After a few seconds, he didn't expect the reaction she had.

"Richie Tozier just told the world that he saw me having sex on a picnic table, and your big story is that?!" 

Eddie's lips began to quiver in a smile; He didn't expect that she would just brush it off. He knew she was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside - just didn't give a shit about how much money he had, she just enjoyed him for him. 

"Why are you smiling now?" 

Eddie smiled more, "Because I was having so much panic trying to figure out how to tell you that. You know how many people try to use me for my money after they find out?" 

Winter realized that it was a big deal to him, "Oh..." her face dropped, "Yeah... I guess it's hard trying to have authentic friendships because of that." 

Eddie nodded, "Everyone is all about money..." He took her hands and kissed them, "Except for you."

The next day, Eddie was sitting in a coffee shop in Derry as Winter was working a day-shift at the Castle Rock Hospital. 

While he was working that day, his engine light went on, so he dropped it off to get it checked out. He was excited for the day to end, thinking that when he got back home, Winter would be there in her comfy house sweater and ripped jeans greeting him with her angelic smile and giving him a hug or kiss. He wondered how things escalated how they did; They had not seen each other in fourteen years, and now the two best friends from high school were living together having sex every night and trying to heal each other's mental and emotional wounds.

He had wondered if Winter was in love with him. They both found it difficult to talk about their feelings, and he was nervous that she didn't feel the same way that he felt for her; Henry was always on her mind. However, that day he came home from his meeting, the day after they first had sex, he helped her finish her wedding song for the Hanks, which they loved. 

As Eddie played the keyboard for her as she tried to vocalize her ideas, the chorus she had written, that had been so difficult for her to write, had just poured out of her. 

_"Oh, can't you hear it in my voice?  
Oh, can't you see it in my eyes?  
Love, love is alive  
Oh can't you feel it in my touch?  
Know that I'll always have enough  
Love, love is alive in me"_

She would look at him and smile as she sang the words; Eddie's stomach would turn in knots every time she would look over and grin lovingly at him; He would smile adoringly back at her as he pressed down on the keys. He wondered if the words came so easily out of her because, perhaps, he had opened her heart again.

Eddie grabbed his coffee and walked out of the relaxing coffee shop. He walked on the familiar sidewalks of Main Street Derry towards the mechanic shop he dropped off his car. As he walked, he had so many memories come out of his vault that he had locked away after childhood ended. 

_Winter smiled at Eddie that sunny August afternoon in 1997 after he bought her ice cream. After Winter spent three hours crying, unable to form words as he held her tight in his arms on the ground in the clubhouse, Eddie thought it would be best not to meet the rest of the gang and just try to put a smile on Winter's face. Her breakdown earlier that day scared the shit out of him._

_They stood outside of Earl's Mechanic Garage where Henry was about to get off his shift._

_"Thank you, Eddie," she said weakly; She was emotionally drained from all the crying she did. She hugged Eddie for not leaving her side during her breakdown._

_"You don't need to thank me... I just wanted to make sure you were okay... Seeing you like that really scared me..." he said seriously. "I know you tell Henry everything, but you can talk to me too, y'know? Especially if he's not around..."_

_Like today, since he was working with his dad at the shop._

_Winter forced a smile and nodded at him. The ice cream Eddie got her definitely helped._

_Henry came running out from the garage and hugged Winter tightly in his arms._

_"I'm so happy to see you, baby!" Henry smiled as he hugged her tightly, "I thought today would never end."_

_Winter smiled as she hugged her boyfriend back, "You smell like cars!" she laughed. She was happy to see him._

_To Eddie, it looked like all the emotional exhaustion on her face had just lifted when Henry showed up. He wished that he had that effect on Winter - He wished she saw him the same way she saw Henry._

_"I'm just going to use the washroom, baby," she quickly kissed him on the lips and ran into Henry's dad's shop._

_Both Henry and Eddie watched her as she ran into the garage. When she was out of sight, they looked at each other._

_"What's good, little dude?" Henry asked as he counted the cash in his hands that he made that day._

_Eddie didn't like being called a 'little dude' but he shrugged it off; "Nothing... Just had some ice cream and Winter did my hair."_

_Henry quickly looked at his hair and smiled, "It looks good!"_

_Eddie softly smiled and sighed quickly, "I should get going home..." He wondered if he should have told Henry that Winter broke down crying for three hours, and it wasn't like an upset person crying, it was a person who had trauma and was triggered type of crying._

_"I'll see you around, Eddie," Henry waved as he began to walk back to the garage._

_Eddie turned to watch Henry walk away; If Winter only opened up to Henry, then maybe he should have known, since it was upsetting to see._

_"Wait, Henry!" Eddie called as he caught up to him._

_Henry stopped and turned around._

_"I thought you should know that when I went to get my hair done at the clubhouse, Winter was crying... She was crying like she witnessed someone she loved die in front of her..."_

_Henry's expression dropped as he listened._

_"It took three hours for her to stop... She couldn't speak or anything, and it looked like she was watching some sort of traumatic event in her head over and over again..." Eddie took a moment to think of anything else he should have told him, "I stayed with her the entire time and made sure she was okay, but it scared the shit out of me... I just thought you should know since she will probably tell you why it happened. She wouldn't tell me anything..."_

_Henry looked at him, and Eddie knew by the look in Henry's eyes that he knew the reason she might have broken down like the way she did. He looked very concerned as he looked from Eddie to Winter just coming out of the washroom in the shop._

_Henry put a hand on Eddie's shoulder and looked him seriously in the eyes, "Thank you for telling me, Eddie. I appreciate that you let me know. I'll make sure she's going to be okay, okay?"_

_Eddie felt the sincerity and nodded._

_"See you later, man!" Henry said before he went running up to Winter._

_Eddie watched as Henry grabbed onto her hands and looked with all his care and concern into her eyes. Eddie couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell by their expressions that Henry brought up what Eddie had told him._

Eddie walked into the shop where he had dropped off his car and walked up to the front desk. 

He waited for someone to come to the desk as he looked around at the mechanics working hard on different vehicles in the building. 

"Hey!" said a young man at the desk. 

Eddie turned to the young man in his early twenties and said, "Pick up for Kaspbrak. I left my car with... um..." Eddie thought of the employee that was going to be working on his car, "Todd!" 

The man with the light brown hair looked at the computer. As the man took the couple of moments to look through the computer, Eddie looked around at the table as his OCD kicked in with the mess on the table. He had noticed a stack of phonebooks that were from different states in the country. 

Eddie lightly laughed, "Phonebooks... You don't see these things around too often anymore..." 

The man laughed, as if there was an inside joke between the employees, "Yeah! The boss here reads through them like it were a hobby." The guy looked up at Eddie, "I can think of a lot of different hobbies that are way more fun than that." 

Eddie smiled and nodded, "That's for sure!" 

"So, it looks like it wasn't Todd that took care of your vehicle. The boss, I guess, decided to take care of your car, which is different since he doesn't really do much mechanic stuff around here unless it's for someone of importance..." he looked Eddie up and down, "I guess you're important." 

Eddie smiled, "Well, I do drive celebrities around... That's the only reason I can think of." 

The guy shrugged and nodded, "Could be that! Anyway, I'll go grab him for you. It will be a minute." 

Eddie smiled as the man walked away into an office. 

As Eddie waited, he grabbed the only open phonebook, which was a Maine phone book; "I haven't had to look in one of these since the '90s..." he said to himself. 

Right away, Eddie stared at the names in the phonebook and immediately felt his breath catch in his chest. He needed to take his inhale, which he did. The book was open to all the Callaghan's in the state. From the bottom of the alphabet starting with Z. Callaghan going up, the names were scribbled out with a sharpie. The person going through the list was starting from the bottom and going up.

"Hey, Eddie."

Eddie looked up to the man that stood nearly eye-to-eye with him at the other side of the desk; Eddie was only just a little taller. He looked at the man who shaved his head and had tattoos up to his elbows and one on his neck. Eddie's stomach tied into a stressed-out knot as he looked into the eyes of a man who looked confident, yet, was incomplete; It was the same look in his piercing blue eyes that Winter had in her own eyes every-single-day; It was a look of loss and heartbreak. 

"Hey, Henry..."

_Henry Bowers!_


	9. Part 9: Coffee & Bowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Losers! Since the world is on lockdown, I think I might update more! 
> 
> Don't forget to read, "Love Above The Sewers (CHAPTER 1)", first:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

"There was a problem with your battery. I'm actually surprised the engine light didn't pop on sooner, because it was nearly dead. It looks like it was caused by an electrical current issue. I replaced it, so this battery shouldn't give you any issues."

Eddie stared wide-eyed at the side of Henry's face as he followed the man that was always in Winter's mind around his car. Every time Henry looked over at Eddie to make sure he understood what he was explaining to him, Eddie would nod and look from Henry to his car. 

"Other than that, you needed more brake fluid, so I filled that up for you. I gave your car a whole inspection to make sure the engine was working fine. Everything looks great. It's a pretty new vehicle so I don't think you should have anymore issues with the engine check light coming on..."

Henry looked into Eddie's eyes as he continued to talk. Eddie saw the same look in his eyes as Winter had in hers the first time he saw her working at the hospital; A commitment to keep his mind at work but it was easy to tell that there was something incomplete in his life.

"If it does give you anymore problems, just give me a call. I'll check it out personally and fix whatever the issue is. I'm not charging you for the break fluid. I'll just charge you for the engine check up and half price of the battery." 

Eddie looked from Henry to his vehicle in disbelief, "You want pretty much only half the price for what you did?" 

Henry nodded confidently, "Yeah, I'm basically giving you a family discount. I've known you since I was a kid and I haven't seen you since high school, so why not?" he half smiled. 

Eddie's mind was filling up with anxiety as he knew Henry's ex-girlfriend, that he was probably torn up over was waiting for him to get home. Meanwhile, she was torn up over Henry and was probably sitting at home thinking of him. 

Eddie faked a genuine smile, "Thanks, but I don't mind paying full price for your work, Henry."

Henry let out a small laugh, "Just take the discount, man... Tell you what; You take my discount that I'm offering you, and since it's my lunch in five minutes, we go out for coffees on you and we'll catch up... Deal?"

Eddie could feel his anxiety boiling up at the idea of catching up with Henry Bowers. He smiled and nodded, "Sounds good!" 

Henry nodded, "Cool! We'll take your car so you can see that it's driving better now." 

Henry walked away into his office so he could grab his coat. When he was out of sight, Eddie grabbed onto the hood of his car and grabbed his inhaler to catch his breath from all the anxiety building up in him. 

Eddie looked up from his inhaler at the business sign just on top of the garage, reading _'Bowers Mechanic Garage'_. 

"This is perfect... Just fucking perfect!" he muttered to himself. He wondered to himself how he didn't realize that this had previously been Henry's dad's business, _'Earl's Mechanic Garage'._

Although the car ride just down the street was awkward for Eddie, Henry didn't seem to sense him being uncomfortable. The two minutes it took to drive to the coffee shop that Eddie was just sitting in half hour ago before he ran into Henry, Henry just talked about how his car rides were going to be smoother because of the work he did on the engine. Eddie definitely agreed that the car did drive a lot smoother. He had never experienced a car driving so smoothly after it being taken to a mechanic. 

When they got their coffees and sat at a table in the coffee shop, Henry pulled out a piece of paper and pen. Eddie had relaxed a little bit after the shock of seeing Henry had disappeared a little bit, but he continued to stare at Henry with no idea what he was supposed to do now that he had bumped into the man that the woman he loved was always thinking about. 

As Henry sat there, scribbling words down on the piece of paper, Eddie's mind wouldn't shut up; _'So the universe just hates me, right? It's trying to fuck with me right now? Winter's probably at home right now, thinking about the dude sitting right in front of me even though I live with her. Am I supposed to just go home and tell her, "Hey! Guess who I ran into... The man you're going to leave me in a heartbeat for!" God, even though he's a little shorter than me and was always a skinny guy, he could snap me right in half if he knew I was living with his high school sweetheart.'_

"How's Winter?"

Eddie's eyes went wide at the question and his heartbeat sped up, "I don't know! How would I know that?" 

Henry looked at him suspiciously as he studied his reaction with those piercing eyes, "I asked you how was your winter?" 

"Oh!" Eddie felt his body relax but he felt stupid for the way he reacted, "Yeah, it was nice." As Henry continued to look at Eddie suspiciously, Eddie realized he needed to just relax, be himself, and pretend like he knew nothing. "So, how are you and Winter doing?"

Henry scratched the bristles on his chin to the question, "We're not together anymore..." he looked up at Eddie, and Eddie could see the broken heart inside of this man; It hit Eddie like a ton of bricks just seeing his expression, "Some crazy shit happened a few years ago after my dad and my uncles passed away... 

_'You mean Ace, Belch, Vic and alcohol problems... Yep, I know all about that crazy shit!_ ' Eddie thought. 

"Oh, man... I'm sorry about your family. I wish I could have come to the funerals, but I was living in New York at the time..." Although, it was Winter who had told him just two months ago.

"It's okay, man. Two years after they passed, Winter needed to get away after the crazy shit happened. We didn't break up in any type of official kind of way... She wants me to find her. I can still feel her thinking about me, and she's on my mind all the time. We're going to find each other one day."

Eddie stared into his eyes and could feel the emotion coming from Henry as he spoke about Winter. Eddie didn't know what to say as he knew he was the door between Henry and Winter at that moment. It was an incredible heavy door he was trying to keep closed as he had fallen in love with Winter. If he only allowed that door to open, he could make two people so very happy to find each other again, but then he would be the broken hearted man... Or he could not say anything and keep the door closed between the two of them, keeping Winter all to himself. He kept staring at those sad blue eyes, though, and it reminded him of Winter's sad eyes... Even when she wears a smile, her eyes told a whole other story. 

As Eddie remained silent, Henry pulled out a folded up note from his wallet, "She left this for me before she left. I take it with me everywhere. I figure it will give me luck in finding her..." 

Eddie took the note and read it to himself. He recognized Winter's handwriting:

**' _Henry, I'll always be waiting for you. I hope you'll find me when you beat the devil and your demons. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry. Please don't stop fighting. Fight them off for us. You're my one and true love. Please don't stop looking for me when the time is right.'_**

Eddie slowly folded the note back up after he read it. He felt numb with the pressure that was now on his shoulders. He knew Winter wanted Henry to find her, so it was no surprise. He remembered she told him about the note she left. Their love was not done, but Eddie didn't want to accept that. 

Eddie slid the note back to Henry, which Henry took and opened it back up to read himself. Eddie thought he probably read it every chance he got. 

"Why did she leave? I'm sure you guys could have worked out whatever crazy shit happened together?" Eddie asked; Even though he knew Winter's side of what happened, he wanted to continue to play stupid. 

Henry sighed, "I had some past shit following me around..."

"The sewers?" Eddie asked quickly. He knew if he didn't bring it up, Henry would have assumed he couldn't remember. 

Henry looked at him surprised, "You remember?" 

Eddie nodded, "Yeah... I mean, it was all so sad the shit Winter went through and those ghosts harassing you." 

Henry didn't ask how he would have remembered, so he continued on anyway; "Those ghosts killed my dad, Uncle Will and Uncle Jim. They killed them with that fucking '58 Plymouth..."

Eddie felt goosebumps as he thought back to that car in the school parking lot as Richie sang to the three greasers. 

_"HEY ASSHOLES! This car is automatic! It's systematic! It's hydromatic!_ _WHY IT'S GREASE LIGHTNING!"_

Henry continued on, "Winter was an angel throughout all of it... She was there to listen to me, even when alcohol took over my life. I tried not to drink with her around, though. I always felt safe and like I didn't need it when she was with me. But, um, one night I was arguing with one of them in the kitchen..." 

_"Henry, you need to open your eyes... You're a born killer, like I was. Winter is distracting you from your real purpose..." Ace said as he stood at the closed door into the apartment, wearing his 1950's brown leather jacket._

_Henry shook his head as he continued to open up all his bottles of alcohol and pour them down the sink._

_Vic went up to him in his dead corpse body with only one eye and asphalt covering him from head to toe, "Belch and I gave you that alcohol to learn how to cope and do what you have to do, man. We're looking out for you, Bowers!"_

_"You guys gave me my first bottle when I was sixteen, trying to turn me into a fucking alcoholic!" Henry shouted at him._

_"Henry, you are an alcoholic. We might have handed you the first bottle, but you've bought and drank about eighty or more since that night when you were looking for Winter when you were in high school. We didn't turn you into anything, you did it to yourself," Ace said with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the door._

_Henry bit his lip, trying to keep his cool as he continued to pour bottles down the sink. Winter had asked him to stop drinking, and he wanted to so badly._

_"You already had a few shots of it, Henry. You're buzzed. Winter's going to come home and see that you're not sober, and she will go to bed worried about you like she does every night..." Ace said, trying to get a rise out of Henry._

_"Shut up!" Henry said as he took the next bottle that was full of alcohol._

_"And when you goes to bed all sad, and you're passed out on the sofa in a drunken stupor, you will never know that while you're sleeping, I'm going to be fucking her brains out..."_

_Henry turned around quickly in a rage as he saw red from Ace's comment._

_As he threw the bottle of alcohol at Ace, he was not there anymore. It was Winter who had opened the door at the worst moment when the bottle hit her in her chest and shoulder, making her fall to the ground, causing her to cry and bleed from the glass piercing her skin._

_"OH, MY GOD! Baby! Baby, I'm so sorry!" Henry panicked after he saw what he did. His eyes filled up with tears as he went over to his fiancée who was crying on the ground in pain._

_He got down on his knees and looked at her chest and shoulder that was bleeding. He felt the worst that he had ever felt in his life. He never wanted to hurt her ever. He spent all the years they spent together trying to protect her. As he tried to look at her wounds, he couldn't stop shaking with panic at what he did to his angel._

_Henry looked at her with tears in his eyes; He knew he was so broken and he was only hurting her with the way he was coping with everything. He continued to shake and cry as he stared into her heartbroken eyes, "Ace was standing there... He was right there!" he cried, "I'm going to get towels! I'll take you to the hospital!"_

"She was gone by the time I found clean towels... I haven't seen her since. She came back one day when I was sleeping. I woke up with a kiss outlined on my forehead from her lipstick, some of her stuff gone, that note and her engagement ring..." Henry wiped his tired eyes. If he didn't already spend over four years crying about it so many times, he probably would have broken down right there, "I was stupid to continue drinking after she left. If I was not in a drunken sleep when she came back for her stuff, I might have had a chance to convince her to stay."

Eddie stared with his eyes wide at his side of the story. Everything matched what Winter had told him; It was an unfortunate accident that was not Henry or Winter's fault. It was because of Ace, Belch and Vic trying to get into Henry's head. The person Henry explained he was those four years ago was obviously not the man sitting across from him; This man in front of him looked healthy and had his life together... but he just wasn't happy.

As Eddie remained quiet as he thought about everything Henry had told him, Henry broke the silence by asking, "How have you been, man? How's your life?"

Eddie knew he had to lie, "It's good. I'm married. I have a great business. I live in Rumford with my wife." 

"You wrote down on your papers at the shop that you live in Castle Rock..." Henry mentioned. 

_'Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!'_ Eddie's voice screamed in his head. He put down Winter's address - or The Hanks address - on his vehicle intake papers. 

"Right! I always forget that I moved the next town over. It was only a couple of months ago that we moved there," Eddie said quickly. 

Henry nodded, "My business offers a service that if you ever need one of us to deliver your car directly to your house, we can. We have to cross-reference each address through Google to make sure it's legitimate just incase that service is needed." 

_'Nope! Will not be taking that service!'_ Eddie thought.

"I was surprised when I checked your place on Google Maps. I knew you were successful, but you must be living in the biggest mansion in Castle Rock," Henry said surprised. 

Eddie laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah! I just love my mansion, y'know?"

"And I guess you're a big fan of weddings?" Henry asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

Eddie blinked confused, "Huh?" 

Henry raised an eyebrow, "I noticed that you're starting up a wedding venue in your backyard."

"Oh! Right, right, right!" Eddie said very quickly and nodded, smiling nervously. "Yeah, my wife, Myra, she just loves weddings!" 

"Why would you call it, _'Hanks Wedding Services'?_ " Henry asked, studying Eddie's face as he continued to answer; If Eddie didn't know any better, he would have thought that Henry knew he was lying and was interrogating him. 

"It's Myra's maiden name... Myra Hanks... It's mostly her business, and I'm just helping her out." Eddie mentally patted himself on the shoulder for coming up with such a convincing story so quickly. 

Henry nodded, listening to Eddie as he spoke about his life, "Pretty cool, man! Congratulations." 

Eddie smiled at him but couldn't help but feel the guilt in his stomach at all his lies. 

Henry looked back down to his paper he had pulled out from his pocket and began to write something on the blank piece of paper. 

Eddie took a sip from his coffee as he watched Henry writing, "What are you writing?" 

"I've been looking for Winter for four years... One thing I haven't tried was putting a posting in the newspapers around the country. An employee of mine told me that a lot of the times it could work. I tried looking for her on Facebook, but it doesn't seem like she has one. She's so old fashioned like me, so putting something in the paper could work..." Henry weakly smiled at Eddie. 

Eddie nodded very interested, yet his anxiety continued to build inside of him, "Uh-huh... Uh-huh... That could very much work, Henry..." he said as he felt his forehead begin to sweat as he continued to watch him write.

As Henry kept his eyes on his pen and paper and Eddie watched him with sweat forming on the back of his neck, his phone began to ring on the table in front of him. 

Eddie looked down really quickly and saw Winter's name in bold letters on his screen with her picture filling up the entire device. He picked it up from the table very quickly in a panic. 

Henry looked puzzled at Eddie to see him anxiously juggling his ringing phone in his hands. 

Eddie nervously smiled, "It's my wife." 

Henry shook his head at Eddie's odd behaviour, "Go ahead," he told him before focusing back on his writing for the paper. 

Eddie answered and quickly turned down the volume on his phone so Henry couldn't hear Winter talking; "Hey, honey!" Eddie said happily with a fake smile to convince Henry. 

"Honey? Well, that's different..." Winter let out a small confused giggle at the name. 

Eddie listened as he watched Henry; For a moment Eddie thought Henry heard Winter on the other end as he looked up at him as he remained on the phone. After a second, he looked back down at what he was writing. 

Eddie nervously laughed and said very quickly, "So, what's going on? What's new? You're doing all good?"

Winter paused, "I'm doing good... Are you doing okay, Edz? You sound like you're stressed... But, like, you're trying to act like everything is going just dandy..." 

Eddie let out a laugh, which Winter knew right away sounded like he was stressed out.

"I'm great..." he laughed anxiously, "I'm just having coffee with an old friend from high school." 

He needed to say something so Henry wouldn't find the conversation weird. 

"Really?" Winter asked excitedly, "Who is it?" 

Eddie looked quickly at Henry, "One of my high school friends that you haven't met." 

"Oh..." Winter tried to think of anyone else Eddie could have been friends with in high school, because she thought she knew all of his friends. "Well, anyway, I need your help when you get back."

"Sure! What's up?" he asked. 

"First; Since you're in Derry, on your way back, please pick up a pizza from Freddy's Pizza House."

Eddie genuinely smiled at her love for her hometown's pizza.

"And two; I need your help trying to figure out this Facebook thing..."

Eddie frowned at the mention of Facebook.

"I finally created an account, since, you know, I got interested watching you on yours all the time. When you get back, if you could just show me how to work it?"

Eddie was silent as his mind couldn't take all the anxiety building inside of him; The woman he loved was at home, creating her first social media account where Henry could easily find her; Henry, that she loves so much, is sitting right in front of him, writing an ad for the paper to find her; And, here he was, the door between them... He didn't know whether to keep the door closed or to open it. 

"Edz?" Winter asked after the long silence.

Eddie blinked and responded, "Yeah, sure! I'll help you with it when I get home."

"Sweet!" Winter smiled on the other end, "Well, I'll let you get back to your coffee. I'll see you when you get back." 

"Yeah, of course!" Eddie smiled softly. When he heard Winter hang up the phone, he said seriously, but mostly so Henry believed that it was his wife on the phone, "I love you." 

He put the phone down and looked back at Henry who had looked back at him. 

"Your relationship sounds really healthy," he nodded and weakly smiled at Eddie, wishing him and Winter were still together and still as happy as Eddie sounded with his wife on the phone. 

Eddie smiled as he pushed his hair back, "Yeah... Yeah, I think it is." 

"What do you think of this?" Henry asked as he pushed the piece of paper in front of Eddie to read. 

_**'Looking for my soul-mate who I lost over four years ago:** _

_**Winter Callaghan, I love you with every part of my heart.** _

_**You told me to look for you when I was ready, and I've been ready for four year, and I have not stopped looking.** _

_**Let's start that future together that we have been talking about since we were sixteen.** _

_**Love you always and forever,** _

_**Henry Bowers, Derry, Maine'** _

Eddie read it over and slid it back to him, "If she finds this, how will she be able to contact you?" he asked seriously. 

Henry looked it over, "I don't want to put my number in it or else I might get scammers trying to contact me." 

"Maybe you should mention to contact her city or town's newspaper company so they can contact you to let you know," Eddie suggested before taking a sip of his coffee. 

Henry nodded, "Uh-huh..." he thought about the idea, "That's pretty good! Thanks, man! Your help means a lot."

Eddie smiled happily, "Anything to help out!" 

_'I'm throwing out the newspaper before she sees it tomorrow...'_ Eddie thought to himself as he continued to smile as Henry wrote down his suggestion.

"Y'know, Henry..." Eddie began; Henry looked at him, "The best way to move on from someone is to date other people." 

Henry blew out some air at the suggestion, "Don't get me wrong - I've gone out on dates... But, Eddie, I don't want anyone else; No woman I've gone out with is Winter."

' _And, to Winter, I'm not you... I get it... But I don't want to let her get away...'_ Eddie thought. 

"How about her, though... The waitress... She's cute..." Eddie pointed to the young lady pouring a customer a cup of coffee. 

Henry turned to look at the girl he was pointing at who had blond hair and talked like a valley-girl. He turned back to Eddie; "Eddie, she's, like, sixteen." 

"So was Winter when you started dating her!" Eddie exclaimed. 

Henry squinted at him perplexed at his odd behaviour, "But, I was sixteen, too..." 

Eddie waved his hands around, "Okay, okay! Understood!" Eddie turned to look at whoever was behind him, and he pointed towards an older lady with white hair in an apron, "How about her, eh? She probably has some good moves."

Henry looked and raised his eyebrow at Eddie, "Dude, she could be the first waitress' grandmother." 

Eddie frowned, "Okay, now you're just being picky." 

Henry shook his head and folded up the ad he was going to put in the newspaper the next day in every single state, and stuck it in his pocket. "I better get going back to work," he said and got up from the table. "Don't worry about driving me back; I need to pick up some groceries on the way." 

"No problem, Henry! It was good seeing you. Let me know if you ever want to go to the bar just you and me - I'll be your wing-man and find you a great date!" Eddie smiled, hoping moving on was an idea Henry would consider. 

Henry let out a chuckle at the idea, "Thanks, man, but I don't drink anymore... I've been sober for four years." 

"Oh!" Eddie exclaimed as he watched Henry walk away, "Congratulations!" 

As Henry walked away from out of sight, the realization hit Eddie like a ton of bricks; Henry did what Winter wanted him to do... He beat his demons and beat the devil. If Henry found Winter as he is now, she would leave Eddie behind for the love of her life. 


	10. Part 10: Eddie's Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is everyone's Quarantine going? I get to work from home, so it's not going too bad for me.  
> I hope everyone is staying isolated and healthy :) !  
> Enjoy a new chapter <3
> 
> If you haven't read the first story in the series, you can find it here:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

Eddie sat in the driveway in The Hanks parking lot. He had been parked for ten minutes, trying to figure out what he was going to do; If he was going to tell Winter the truth or if he was going to continue lying and pretend spending the afternoon with Henry Bowers never happened. 

"Fuck, Eddie, why did you have to go to _that_ mechanic stop? There's like fifteen in Derry, and you went to _that_ one!" Eddie said as he hit the steering wheel. "Hey, Winter, guess who I saw today?"

"Who, Edz?" Eddie asked himself in a high-pitch voice, pretending to be Winter.

"Henry Bowers! The love of your fucking life!" he said in his normal voice with a stressed smile.

"What?! How is he?!" he asked in Winter's voice.

"He's good! He owns his dad's old car shop, he's sober, doesn't look like there's any ghosts following him... Hmm... What else..." Eddie said very quickly and dramatically, "Oh yeah! He basically spends every moment of his life when he's not working trying to track you down because you're on his mind all the time. He also looks like he cries himself to sleep every night thinking about you. But, anyway, you have me now, so we're still good, right?" Eddie laughed insanely as his anxiety boiled up, "No, because then she's going to go straight to the mechanic shop and they're going to fucking cry in each other's arms and get married the next day! That's what's going to fucking happen! Then I'll be the one crying myself to sleep every night thinking that I'm an idiot for letting the best thing in my life get away!" he said to himself. 

Eddie took his inhaler and inhaled deeply. He took a moment to clear his mind as he inhaled deeply into his lungs. He took a few more moments to calm down, looked over towards the pizza in the passenger seat, and decided he was ready to face Winter. 

He grabbed the pizza and went inside. 

Winter was standing at the kitchen counter, swiping through her phone as she was starting to understand what Facebook newsfeed was. 

She looked up at Eddie, "Oh man, I've been so excited for this pizza all day!" Winter smiled. She paused, and said quickly, "I've been excited to see you, too, Edz... The pizza is just a bonus!" She joked. 

Eddie continued to remain quiet as he couldn't take his eyes off of her as he walked over to the kitchen island to put the pizza down. 

"Did you know that Derry is creating a concert venue? Like, a big concert venue where huge bands are going to play?" she asked excitedly, seeing the news on her newsfeed. "I don't know why they would put a huge venue in Derry, though. I figured they would put it in a bigger city." 

"Yeah, they've been building that arena for months now. It's supposed to open with a big headliner in May from what I heard..." Eddie said as he stared at her, "See how the world of Facebook keeps you up-to-date with things?" he weakly smiled, trying to ease himself and let go of some of his tension. 

Winter giggled, "You were right when you said I was living under a rock."

 _'Can you go back under that rock and not be on social media where Henry can find you?'_ Eddie thought to himself, but he wasn't going to try and control her... He wanted her to be happy. 

Eddie smiled seldomly at her, taking in all her beautiful details and trying to figure out what he was going to do in that moment as they stood there together. 

Winter looked back at him and noticed his tension even though he was trying to smile; She knew something was bothering him, "Are you okay, Edz?"

Eddie quickly rubbed his forehead and brushed his hand through his hair, "Yeah... Um..."

"Did Myra try contacting you again?" That's what she figured the problem would be. 

Eddie shook his head, "No... It's nothing to do with her..." 

"Then what is it?" 

Eddie stared at her, trying to hold onto himself with all he could so his anxiety didn't get to him. Instead of saying anything, he went up to her and put his arms around her waist in a tight hug. 

Winter was surprised. Although they hugged all the time, there was something different about this hug; He held onto her like he needed her comfort more than anything else in the world. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him back, "What's going on, Edz? Is everything okay?"

As Eddie hugged his face into the side of her neck, he collected his thoughts and decided what he was going to do in that moment. 

He looked at her as he pulled away from the hug and kept his hands on her waist, "We have a good thing going, right? You like this, right?" He moved his hand back and forth between him and her, "Like, _us_ , I mean?" 

Winter smiled, "Yeah, I think we've really come along way together, and we've helped each other pull through with the stuff in our personal lives." 

Eddie smiled, "Yeah!" he agreed, "Yeah! We really have helped each other. I mean, I'm the happiest I've... well... I've ever been. Are you happy?" 

Winter nodded, "Yeah, I've really been enjoying us... I'm enjoying _this,_ " she copied the hand movement he made and moved her hand between him and her. 

Eddie let out a small laugh. He quickly became serious, "I know you could never see me like how you saw Henry..." he could see her smile start to fade slowly and her eyes become sad at the mention of Henry, "And I know I don't know all the right romantic things to say that Henry did..." he looked at her more seriously, "But you have to admit, I make you laugh like crazy." 

Winter let out a little giggle, "You do... You don't have to feel bad that you're not romantic like Henry was... Henry was really romantic and passionate, but I think you have made me almost pee my pants from laughing more than he did," she laughed; He laughed, too. 

"And you enjoy that, right?" he smiled more as he became less tense, "You enjoy that I can make you laugh and make you forget about all the past shit with the sewers, the ghosts and that fucking clown?"

Winter nodded, "Of course I do! Edz, before we bumped into each other, I was in such a deep depression... It's like you're my light at the end of the tunnel..." 

That made Eddie smiled. He was her light at the end of the tunnel; When she was rescued from the sewers in high school, he was the one who held her hand from the tunnel to the ambulance, even though she was covered in bacteria that would have usually scared him away.

"And the sex is phenomenal!" Eddie exclaimed with excitement. 

Winter giggled and nodded, "The sex really is helpful! It's really good!" And it was, even if her orgasms were from imagining Henry a lot of the time, Eddie's need for control and aggression in the bedroom was really a bonus, especially since it helped her feel pleasure instead of pain.

"Plus, bonus for me, being with you saves me in medical bills and paranoia over my Hypochondriac issues."

Winter smiled, "Perks in living with a nurse."

Eddie laughed. 

"Why are you bringing all this up, Edz?" she asked, wanting to know why he needed to talk about this. 

Eddie looked serious into her eyes and sighed, "Well, you know, we live together, we're really good together and we're happy together... I just think that, maybe, we can move forward and make things official?" 

Winter went quiet. She wouldn't mind moving things more serious, but she wanted Henry to come back to her and find her. 

"I thought you wanted to just keep things the way they were since you're still dealing with divorce stuff with Myra?" she asked. 

Eddie noticed she was unsure, and he knew it was because of Henry and not because of him; "Yeah, but whenever Myra is ready to contact me, we're going to stay separated and we're going to be divorced after a year. My mom will eventually accept that I don't want to be with her and I want to be with you, and so all this divorce will pass." 

Winter nodded slowly, "Right..." She couldn't get rid of Henry's face from her mind. She didn't want to make it official incase they did find each other. 

Eddie sighed, and regretted the words that were going to come out of his mouth; "Winter, it's been four years... Not to be offensive, but thinking that one day Henry is going to find you is fairy tale thinking... You didn't leave a phone number, an address... The man probably still lives in Pittsburgh, which is far away." 

He watched her expression become even more upset, _'You're a terrible, selfish man, Eddie... A terrible, selfish man and a huge fucking liar...'_ Eddie thought to himself. 

He continued on, "For all we know, he might already be in a relationship. I'm ready to commit to you, and I don't mean that we need to make it official on Facebook or to anyone, but I want to know that we're secure. I want to know that I'm not you're back-up incase Henry never comes back." 

Winter shook her head and said seriously, "I don't want you to ever think of yourself as anyones back-up. You deserve happiness and to never be someone's second option." 

He weakly smiled, "I just want to know that we are secure. We both need security, right?" he took her hand and kissed her knuckle as he looked into her eyes. 

Winter nodded slowly, "I know you're probably right. These past four years I've just been delusional by thinking that Henry will magically find me." 

Eddie stared at her and thought, _'It is a delusional thought, but he did find you... I'm just hiding you away from him because I finally have you to myself...'_

Winter closed her eyes tightly and blew out some air; She nodded and forced a smile, "If it's not Henry who I'll be spending my life with, I'm glad it's you, Edz."

Eddie smiled as he stared at her with love and sadness in his eyes, "So we're official? We have secured ourselves to this relationship?"

Reluctantly, Winter nodded. She knew Eddie was right. After all, he was the logical Virgo and she was the dreaming Pisces; At least Eddie kept her head out of the clouds and her feet on the ground. 

Eddie smiled a big smile and kissed her deeply on the lips; She kissed him back. They kissed a few more seconds before they separated. 

He placed his forehead on hers and looked deeply into her eyes, "I'll keep you happy, I promise. I will take care of you, too. I'll take care of you emotionally, financially, sexually, mentally... Just in every way possible, I'll take care of you." 

Winter softly smiled at him, "And I will always take care of you emotionally, sexually, mentally, and... Well... I can't say I'm almost a billionaire, but I can take care of you medically." 

Eddie laughed as he stared lovingly into her eyes; "That's definitely something I need in a relationship." 

Winter let out a laugh. 

Eddie kissed her again on the lips, and then went over to the pizza; "I brought that pizza you wanted." 

Winter smiled, "See? You're already my dream come true." 

Eddie laughed. "I'm just going to get into some pyjamas. I hate being at home in my work clothes," he said. 

"I'll be here!" Winter called back as she watched Eddie walk into the hallway and into the bedroom. 

When Eddie was out of sight, Winter's expression fell as her eyes nearly filled up with tears and her gaze dropped to the floor. She knew Eddie was right about Henry, but the realization made her wish she never left Henry alone, even though he did hurt her that one day. She dreamed that she would one day hold him again, smell him, hug him, kiss him, have sex with him, look into those deep piercing eyes, and spend the rest of her life with him. She just wanted him. But... Eddie was right. 

As Eddie shut the bedroom door, his anxiety built up and he took an inhale from his inhaler. He was ecstatic to have the woman he's always wanted, but he couldn't believe how far he had stooped to make her his. 

"I'm a fucking terrible person! I just manipulated the shit out of her!" Eddie said to himself. 


	11. Part 11: The Turtle Effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you get caught up in this story, be sure to read the first book of my series: Love Above The Sewers (CHAPTER 1): A Henry Bowers Love Story - 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
"My name is Henry... I'm an alcoholic..." Henry said in the circle at the Derry Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. 

"Hi, Henry!" the group of eight responded. They were all going around in the circle, talking about their addictions; Some of them were new and some of them had been going to the meetings for years. 

"So... Four years sober feels pretty good..." Henry let out a small awkward laugh.

The group clapped, some of them telling him congratulations. 

Henry softly smiled and nodded to the group that were clapping happily for him. "I know for a lot of people, getting sober is really difficult. I thought it was going to be difficult for me, but it was a lot easier than I thought... Most of you know my story about my stalkers and how they killed my dad and uncles, so I'm not going to tell it again..."

Except Henry left out the part about Ace, Vic and Belch being dead.

"It was easy for me to get sober, because I'm determined to get Winter back, wherever she might be. A lot of people think I'm delusional to think that I'll find her one day, and that's fine... I know it is kind of a Nicolas Spark's love story dream... But her and I have been connected since we were kids... From the miles between us, I feel her depression, I feel it when she can't sleep, I can feel it when she's thinking of me, and I can feel her love for me. I know she want's me to find her..." Henry took a pause as he looked at everyone looking at him, "I said that getting sober was easy to do, but that's because having to live my life without the woman I promised I would protect for the rest of my life beside me, is the most difficult thing I have to wake up to. I worry about her everyday, but I know she's okay... 

"Everyone in Derry remembers her as the girl who was pulled out of the sewers in 1997..." Henry sighed, recalling how much he worried about her during those weeks she was missing and in the hospital, "She had a deadly Pneumonia because of that. Her upper respiratory isn't very strong because of that. She becomes sick with the common cold worse than anyone else, and I always became worried when she got sick. I would do all I could to take care of her... I need her to be okay, for me, since she's my everything, even when she's not here with me." 

"You're a true romantic, Henry..." one of the ladies said that had been in the meetings a few times. 

Henry let out a tiny laugh as he scratched his head, "Nah... When you find your soulmate, you just do what you feel is right to keep them safe..." He shook his head a bit, thinking to the last time he saw her on the kitchen floor, covered in blood; "I really messed up the last time I saw her. She pleaded with me for months to quit drinking, but having my stalkers following me everywhere I went, made it impossible. A few days after Winter left, I got rid of them. Then I ditched the alcohol, and now I need to find her."

"We will do whatever we can to help, Henry..." said the host of the A.A. Meetings, Chris. Henry had known Chris for the past three years. 

Henry had only moved back to Derry three years ago when he decided to open his dad's shop back up. When his mom, Ruth, moved out of the family house, she told Henry to take care of it. He had the decision whether to keep the house for himself or to fix it up and put it on the market. He didn't decide what he wanted to do yet. He was living in it by himself and fixing it up, too, incase he decided to put it up for sale. It really came down to if, when he found Winter, if she would want to move in the house with him and start a family there, or if his dreams of finding her didn't come true, he probably would sell the house since Derry had so many memories of him and her together. 

When Henry sat in the meeting, his mind travelled to one of the times Winter was sick during Christmas 1997, six months after her, Henry and the losers defeated the clown. They were in the middle of their last year of high school, and they were working on the weekends to save up for their future together. He remembered when Winter and him were seventeen; He was working the weekends with his dad and Winter was waitressing at The Duchess of Maine. It was a pub, and it was illegal that Winter was working there at seventeen to begin with, but the owner wanted her as the head waitress since her schedule was so flexible on the weekend and she was reliable. 

** Friday December 19, 1997 **

_It was almost midnight and Winter was one of two of the only people serving that night since the bartender had gone on holidays for Christmas. She wasn't supposed to work at the bar since she was only seventeen and didn't have a liquor license. She had done it a couple of times before, but her main job was to serve food up until nine in the evening._

_It was two of the regulars there drinking their usual poison. Most of the time, they would be talking casually with the bartender of the night, that night being Winter, but Winter was not in her usual perky spirits. She was scheduled to work until nine, but her boss made her stay because one of the other waitresses called in complaining of a hangover._

_Winter was sick that night with a cold, yet her boss wouldn't let her take it off since it was only 'a little winter cold'. No matter how many times she would explain to him that a little cold to her was like a spout of Pneumonia, he never listened. He thought that she was only being a dramatic teenager who didn't want to work._

_"Dallas, did you want another Rum and Coke?" Winter asked with a tiny smile. She could barely speak, her voice would cut out when she would talk. She would grab her inhaler and inhale every time she found it hard to breathe._

_"Hit me up, baby girl!" Dallas, a regular to The Duchess, replied back. "Why didn't Steve give you the night off, Win?" he asked. Steve was the boss._

_As Winter filled up the cocktail glass, she replied, "He thinks I just have a tiny cold."_

_"What a fucking asshole!" Trevor, Dallas' friend, said. "He lets Kaitlyn off almost weekly because she's hung over, but yet you have to cover that irresponsible girl's ass!"_

_Henry walked in the bar. The bouncer knew he was Winter's boyfriend and her ride home after her shift, so he always let him in even though he was underage. He would periodically check to make sure Winter never served him any alcohol, which she never did._

_He walked over to the bar in his ripped jeans, messy hair and winter coat on. He sat on his usual barstool at the end of the bar._

_"Hey look, it's Earl Bowers' kid!" Dallas said happily._

_"Hey, Henry!" Trevor smiled._

_Henry nodded towards them, "Hey, guys!" Henry smiled at Winter as she walked over to him with a glass of Iced Tea that she put in front of him. Henry said loud enough for Trevor and Dallas to hear, "Are these guys giving you trouble, babe?"_

_"We're always giving her trouble!" Trevor laughed._

_Winter softly smiled, "Yep! Always a pain in my ass!"_

_"That's why we tip well, don't we, Winnie?" Dallas smiled._

_Winter hated that nickname, but since Dallas and Trevor always took care of her in tips and they were easy to deal with, she always smiled._

_"Hey, Henry! You need to get her home... She might be smiling but I'm not too sure if she will or won't eventually faint before the place closes. She's been sucking on her inhaler like it's a respirator at the hospital," Trevor said seriously._

_Winter rolled her eyes, "Guys! It's not busy, I can handle it."_

_Before she could walk away, Henry grabbed her hand so she would face him. Henry looked at her face, taking in her details to see if she looked okay. "Babe, if you're not feeling good, you need to go to bed. Fuck your boss. He doesn't know that things like the cold are really bad to your lungs."_

_Winter sighed, "I can't lose my job, baby."_

_"You won't!" Henry said seriously, "You're not even supposed to be back here serving alcohol. He can't fire you."_

_Dallas spoke up, "Win, just bring the newspaper article of you being carried out of the sewers with Pneumonia after being stuck in them for three days. Tell him you almost died. He might be understanding then!"_

_Trevor's eyes went wide, "You're the girl they found in the sewers last May? That fucking perverted child abductor took you in the sewers?"_

_'Sure, we can call Pennywise a perverted child abductor, but It's way worse than that...' Henry thought._

_"Guys! There's two hours left... I think I can manage..." Winter said barely as her voice cut in and out._

_"Babe, please..." Henry said seriously, "There's the other server in the dining room, and the dinning room is dead. You're not that bad in need for money. He can come back here and take over for you. Let me just take you home."_

_As Winter considered, Max and Jesse, two of the regulars that Winter didn't like because they were rude and a handful when they got drunk came in the bar._

_Winter rolled her eyes at the sight of the two men walking in, "Fuck..." she said under her breath._

_"Winter Snow!" Max roared as he approached the bar, "You know what me and Jesse want!"_

_"Hey, guys..." Winter said as she grabbed two frosted pints and filled them up with Budweiser._

_"You sound like shit, Winter Snow!" Jesse said, "You're still sexy, though."_

_Henry heard the comment and rolled his eyes. He hated that she had to deal with these assholes every time her boss made her work the bar._

_Winter didn't say anything. She took her inhaler and inhaled some more of her medicine into her lungs that were feeling very painful._

_"You should suck my dick instead of that inhaler," Max said._

_Henry got up from his stool, "What the fuck did you just say to her?!" he shot at him._

_Max and Jesse laughed._

_"What the fuck are you going to do about it?" Max said. "I told her that I want her to suck my dick!"_

_Henry walked up to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall, "Don't you EVER say anything like that to her again, you asshole!"_

_"What are you going to do about it, Bowers?" Max said with a grin._

_Winter was coughing at the bar as she tried to call out to Henry to let him go, but she was too weak._

_Henry clenched his fist and was going to punch his fist to the man's face._

_"Uh, Henry..." Dallas said before Henry hit Max. Henry still had his gaze on Max as Dallas said, "I think you better take Winter home... She doesn't look too good."_

_Henry quickly looked over towards Winter who almost fell to the ground in a coughing fit as she clutched onto her chest from her lungs hurting._

_Max pushed Henry away. Henry stopped before he could fall on the ground. He looked towards Max who was still grinning at him and although Henry would have loved to give the man a black eye, he looked to his girlfriend who didn't look like she could handle another two hours on her feet._

_Henry went behind the bar and held onto Winter before she fell on the floor. He touched her forehead and there was sweat forming on her skin._

_"You need to go home, babe, you've got a fever," he said worried, not even thinking twice about Max and Jesse who both didn't seem to care about Winter's condition and walked over to the pool tables in a laughing fit over Henry nearly punching Max in the face. "Come on, baby..."_

_Winter held onto Henry for support as he walked her over to a chair to sit down._

_"You'll be fine, Winnie. Henry's gonna take care of you," Trevor said with a reassuring smile._

_Henry had gone over to Kai, who was the other server on duty who had been cleaning up the dinning room._

_Kai went over to the bar and took over for Winter._

_"Don't worry about it, Winter. I can cover the rest of the night for you. Just go home and go to bed," he smiled at her._

_"Come on, baby..." Henry put his arm around Winter, and she supported herself on him as he walked her out of the pub and into his dad's pick-up truck that Henry drove over._

Henry walked back to his mechanic shop after going to the pet store to buy some crickets and stopped off at the corner store for a sandwich. When he walked in after hours, he noticed one of his employees was still working. His name was Greg and he had been working for Henry since he had re-opened the garage. 

"You're here late," Henry commented as he walked into the shop. 

Greg looked up from the vehicle's car engine he was working on, "Hey, Henry! Yeah, I hope it's okay. I was going to ask you if I could work late before you left." 

"You never ask to work late," Henry commented. 

"Yeah, well, my wife and I are pregnant. We just found out two days ago," he smiled. "I was hoping I could work late regularly now just to get some extra money." 

"Congratulations, man!" Henry smiled. "It's no issue, just let me know what days you're staying late and don't forget to lock up." 

"Thanks, Henry!" Greg said relieved that Henry said it was okay. "Your friend showed up about ten minutes ago. He's in your office." 

"Perfect! Again, man, don't forget to lock up!" Henry mentioned as he began to walk to his office. He quickly turned around and said to Greg, "Tell your wife I said congratulations, too!" 

"Will do!" Greg smiled and went back to work. 

Henry opened the door to his office. His office was not a typical office. It was a rather big room full of tac-up boards on the wall that had scientific theories written on them. In the corner of the room was his pet turtle, Kyle, who Henry had made the trip to get the crickets for. 

"I'm sure you attract all the attention walking through town with a bag full of crickets!" 

Henry turned to the sofa, and there sat his best friend, Mike Hanlon. Mike had been working at the Derry Public Library since high school ended. He was also living in the building as well, creating his own apartment on the third floor. He had been best friends with Henry ever since he moved back to Derry.

Henry smiled at him, "So that's why I had a cop looking at me like I was walking through the streets like I was going to rob a store or something," he joked. 

Henry went over to the turtle, grabbed a couple of crickets and put some in the tank. 

"Have you seen the turtle moving lately?" Mike asked. 

"Not anymore than usual..." Henry said as he dropped a couple more crickets in the tank. "Do you get the feeling like everything is going to happen sooner than we thought?" Henry asked as he looked over to Mike. 

"You feel the energy of Derry is shifting? Yeah, I feel that. That's why I'm curious if the turtle has been acting differently," he asked as he watched the turtle moving his head around. 

"No, he hasn't..." Henry said, putting the tied up bag of crickets to the side. "I don't feel connected to the turtle like I did as a kid, but Derry feels different the past few days." 

"Yeah, well, you killed off the clown, Henry. You killed off the clown when you killed off Ace, Belch and Vic... Whatever Pennywise left inside of you when you were a baby has probably been given back to It... That energy that left you probably woke Pennywise up. It's probably in the sewers becoming stronger these past four years..." Mike sighed as he scratched his head and looked at all the boards with their theories on it; Their turtle theories, "I just wish we understood what the turtle is and what It did that night... The night you died four years ago..." 

Henry took a bite from his sandwich. He looked a couple more times at the turtle who was still as lazy and moving slow as ever. He remembered when the clown took Winter in 1997, Kyle the turtle was knocking on the glass of the tank trying to wake Henry up. That whole spring when the clown was terrorizing him, Winter and the losers, the turtle was tapping at the glass and moving around the tank like crazy. It was the same during the night that the turtle talked to Henry, telling him that It could help Ace, Belch and Vic go away... The night Henry hung himself in his brother's basement apartment... The night Henry died and killed off what was inside of him from the clown. 

"The turtle showed you things when you were dead?" Mike asked, already knowing the story, but needed to understand if there were any clues as to when the coming of Pennywise was supposed to happen. 

Henry nodded, "You know how they say that when someone dies, their whole life flashes before their eyes?"

Mike nodded.

"The turtle didn't show me the past, it showed me the future. It showed me how life is already aligned and everything happens for a reason, and that everything is kind of... What's the saying..."

"Predicted?" Mike suggested.

Henry nodded, "Kind of like that... It's more like life is set in a divine providence..." 

"So, your life path, my life path, Winter's life path, Bills, Bev's, Eddie's, Ben's, Stan's, Richie's life paths are already set in stone no matter how much we think we change the path of our lives?" 

Henry nodded, "Yeah, like that... The turtle only showed me mine and Winter's, though... And since I died, it tricked the universe into thinking I'm actually dead, so it threw mine and Winter's life path out of whack..." 

"And you know who..." Mike lifted his eyebrows. 

Henry cleared his throat, "Speaking of you know who... I bumped into him today here at the shop..." 

Mike laughed, "No way! Eddie was here?" 

Henry nodded, "Yeah, and we went out for a coffee... I don't know, man... I felt like he was lying to me about something. There was something so off about him, and since I hadn't seen him since I was eighteen, I couldn't tell what was off." 

"What do you mean?" 

Henry shook his head, "For someone who is financially set in life and has a huge business, he seems kind of... I don't know... goofy, suspicious, and paranoid. Either that's how he acts everyday or he's lying to me about something." 

"Maybe he knows where Winter is..." Mike suggested. 

Henry blew out some air, "I was thinking that, but Eddie never lied to me about stuff with Winter. When we were kids, if something was wrong and it had to do with Winter, he would tell me so I knew." Just like the time Eddie told Henry about Winter crying for three hours in the clubhouse. 

"But he's an adult now and a business man... Who knows, man..." Mike shrugged. "If what the turtle showed you was right, it's hard to say what could be going on." 

Henry scratched his head in thought, "All I know is that our universe will not be back to normal, back on the right axis, until Winter and I are back together. That's how it's supposed to be to keep her protected. It's like I put our lives in a parallel universe when I died." 

Mike weakly smiled, "You did... The universe thinks you died, so it rippled all of us into a parallel universe, and we have to fix it." Mike looked at the turtle, "It's like The Butterfly Effect; Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” Mike looked at Henry, "Does the death of somebody ripple the life path of everyone who knew him? Winter might not know that you died, but the effects of it rippled her life path, even though you were only gone for two minutes before they revived you... And that's why you and I call it The Turtle Effect." 

"I feel the energy in Derry changing to how it was back in spring 1997... It's the town becoming angry, fearful and heavy..." Henry said as he took a bite from his sandwich. 

"When It wakes up, the turtle will know, and the turtle will bring all nine of us back together..." Mike looked at the peaceful turtle who laid in the tank. "When all of us get together to finally finish It, we'll have to tell them about The Turtle Effect."

Henry let out a tiny laugh, "I can already see Richie thinking we're on crack and putting it in his next special." 


	12. Part 12: Stuck With No Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Quarantined friends, don't forget to read the first book in this series:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> Stay safe <3 ! More chapters coming during this social-isolation period of life :)

** **

** Wednesday April 13, 2012 (One Month & 15 Days Before Pennywise's Return) **

"Okay, Mrs. Kaspbrak, I'm just going to need you to relax and take some deep breaths as I check your blood pressure..." Winter instructed to the obese woman who laid in the hospital bed. As Winter attached the arm strap to her meaty arm, Mrs. Kaspbrak looked over to Eddie who was sitting on the other side of the hospital room, watching Winter as she worked. 

"Eddie! How many times do I have to tell you to stop smiling like that?!" Mrs. Kaspbrak snapped at Eddie. 

"MOM!" Eddie exclaimed, tired of his mom controlling his every move. Every time Eddie looked at Winter, a smile would grow on his face, and his mom didn't like it. 

As Eddie and his mom snapped back and forth, Winter tried to focus to her job instead of paying attention to their back and forth bickering. 

"What's that smile about anyway? I've known you since you came into this world, thirty years ago, and I have never seen you smile like that!" Mrs. Kaspbrak said worriedly, "Is it mental health issues, sweetie?" 

Eddie rubbed his face with his hands and said, "Oh, my God..." As he became more embarrassed. "I just think she's doing a good job with you, so I smiled." 

She looked at Winter, "Don't worry about him; I don't know what's gotten into him lately. Anyway, is my blood pressure high? While I'm here, can you also do a blood test and check my cholesterol? I'm also nervous that I might have liver cancer. I've been having a lot of extra bile in my bowel movements."

Eddie slid his hand through his hair, embarrassed by his mom's over the top behaviour. He admired Winter for being so patient with her, though. 

"Of course, Mrs. Kaspbrak. Your blood-pressure is a little high, so that's why I was asking you to relax..." Winter said as she put on her Stethoscope and checked her heartbeat. 

"Anyway, Eddie, you should be only smiling like that at your wife... and me, your mother!" she said, getting back onto the topic of Eddie smiling at Winter. 

"Mom, Myra and I are separated. In a year, we can get a divorce." 

"I don't know why you want to separate from her, Eddie-Kins! She's the perfect woman for you."

 _'You would say that, you controlling bitch...'_ Winter thought to herself. She never liked Eddie's mom. 

As Winter went to grab a vile and needle so she could take blood from Mrs. Kaspbrak, Winter turned towards Eddie and smiled as she mouthed _'Eddie-Kins'?_

Eddie gave Winter a glare for making fun of the name. He really wished that she didn't have to look after his mom as he was very embarrassed. 

"Mom, it's my decision to divorce her, okay? We've been separated for over two months now, and I am the happiest I've ever been."

"Where are you living, by the way? I know you don't have friends to live with. Don't tell me your wasting money on hotels every night, Eddie? Do you know a lot of people can get diseases from sleeping in hotel rooms? Just last week a girl got bit by a tick from a hotel bed and now she has Lyme disease!" 

Winter interfered, "I'm going to take your blood, Mrs. Kaspbrak, so you're going to have to relax..." She attached the elastic band around her arm, disinfected the area, looked for the vein, and was about to stick the needle through her skin, "Big breath in three, two..."

"EDDIE! Stop looking at the poor nurse like that! She is not a piece of chocolate cake!" 

Winter lost where the vein was and rolled her eyes frustrated. Winter remembered Eddie's mom being overwhelming and overbearing when he was a teenager, but how could she treat a thirty year old man like this? 

"MOM! Let her do her job!" Eddie snapped, rolling his eyes himself. "Besides, I don't even like chocolate cake." 

As Eddie talked, Winter quickly looked for the vein and stuck the needle in to begin taking blood. "Perfect, Mrs. Kaspbrak! You'll be all done soon." 

"Sweetie..." Mrs. Kaspbrak turned to Winter, "When you're done with me, do you mind examining my son, Eddie?" 

Eddie raised his hands frustrated, "Mom, why are you asking her to examine me? I'm fine!" 

Mrs. Kaspbrak kept her attention on Winter, "See... Him and his wife are having marital issues, and I think it might be because he has problems sexually..."

Eddie smacked his hand to his forehead. Winter tried not to smile as she looked from Eddie to his mother. 

His mom tried to whisper, but she was loud enough for Eddie to hear, "I don't know if his penis might be broken..."

"MOM! Mom... My penis..." he was turning red from embarrassment and couldn't finish his sentence, "For fuck sakes!" 

"EDDIE! LANGUAGE!" She snapped at him. She quickly turned back to Winter, "Would you maybe give it a feel? Maybe if you felt it, you could see that the blood doesn't rush there like it's supposed to. You're a pretty girl... If it doesn't work when you're touching it, then there must be something wrong with his penis, right?" 

Eddie shook his head embarrassed and muttered to himself, "If I had a gun, I could just end it all by shooting myself in the head..." 

Winter couldn't believe how embarrassing and belittling Eddie's mom was. She did the best thing she could and tried to give the impression to Eddie that his mom wasn't making her uncomfortable. She looked at Eddie and he looked at her; "I can give it a feel if you would like, Mr. Kaspbrak?" she asked in a sexy tone that his mom didn't pick up on. 

Eddie heard the sexual tone in her voice and began to laugh lightly as he smiled at her and blushed, "No... No, it's fine..." 

"Eddie! If I have to tell you not to smile like that at her one more time..." Eddie's mom began. 

"MOM! STOP!" Eddie hit the arm rest of his chair. 

Winter began to take the needle out of her arm, "All done, Mrs. Kaspbrak..." She took the viles of blood and put them in a small basket with her name on it. 

"Do I need to do any follow-up appointments?" She asked. 

Winter got up from her stool and began to scribble on a Doctor's pad, "Not at this time. We will check your vitamin levels, Thyroid, do a diabetes check, and see if there are any abnormalities in your blood. If you are concerned about liver cancer, or since you are at the age that you should be having regular colonoscopies, we can refer you to the clinic in the hospital. Other than that, If we find anything in your blood, the doctor will be sure to give you a call." Wanting to cheer Eddie up, Winter glanced from him to her pad as she wrote on it. She ripped off the piece of paper and walked over to him, saying in a sexy tone for fun, "As for you, Mr. Kaspbrak, I think it's necessary that you book an appointment with me so I can... You know..." She eyed him up and down, "Give you a feel."

Eddie laughed as he began to turn red. He looked down at the paper she gave him and read it to himself; _**'Don't be embarrassed. I'm a little excited to give you a feel anyways :) See you at home later. P.S. Your penis works great.'**_

Eddie smiled at the note and tucked it into his pocket. As he watched Winter walk out of the room, his mom asked, "Eddie, why does she look so familiar? Who is she?" 

"I went to high school with her, mom. You've seen her a few times. You remember Winter Callaghan?" Eddie said as he helped his mom off of the hospital bed. 

Mrs. Kaspbrak's eyes went wide and her breath caught in her throat, "Winter Callaghan? She's the sewer garbage, Eddie! Why would you let her touch me?! She's a dirty girl who was found in the sewers! She's probably full of diseases!"

Eddie felt his blood boil and he snapped, "MOM! I will tolerate a lot of shit you say, but don't ever say anything about her like that again!" 

Mrs. Kaspbrak gave Eddie the shifty eye as she became suspicious, "Why are you so defensive about her, Eddie? You're not doing things with that dirty girl, are you?" 

Eddie began to turn pink as he tried to remain unbothered, "Mom, she was a good friend of mine in high school... That's it, okay? Can we drop this now?"

As Winter stood outside, writing her patient dismissal papers for Mrs. Kaspbrak and writing the paperwork for her blood to get tested in the lab, she looked up to see Eddie and his mom walking out of the room. As they passed by the RN desk, Eddie turned to her as he walked away and mouthed, _"I am so sorry!"_

She finally understood why none of the RN's wanted to work on Eddie or his mom when they came in together for a check up. They had also mentioned that his wife is worse to deal with. Winter felt her blood boil inside that Eddie made the decision to marry a woman like his mother. She didn't understand why such a logical man could make such an illogical decision like that. It made her mad that she couldn't understand why a man with such a high profile in the financial sector could allow the women in his life to belittle him like that. A boy who loved his abusive mother was going to fall victim to an abusive wife. Perhaps he admired Winter so much, because she was the type of woman that he never thought he deserved.

Winter's shift ended at ten in the evening. She had already told Eddie that she wanted to enjoy the new spring weather and didn't need him to pick her up that night. It was for the best that he didn't pick her up, because when Winter got home, she didn't expect to see what she saw...

Winter closed the door behind her to her basement apartment, and the first thing she saw was Eddie struggling to pour himself a shot of Tequila that was from her liquor cabinet. There he sat at the kitchen island, looking like a broken man. 

The image of him there made her think of Henry when she would come home and he had been drinking. 

_"I'm sorry, baby... But they won't leave me alone... They're talking at me all day..." Henry's voice said in her head. What she hadn't realized was Henry was surrounded by Ace, Vic and Belch as he sat on the sofa with his bottle of Jack Daniels. She couldn't see them, but she could feel their presence. He put his hands over his face and cried, "I don't know how to make them go away! They're torturing me!"_

Winter felt tears build up behind her eyes from hearing Henry's voice in her head sounding like he was in so much pain that it broke her heart. Winter quickly collected herself back together and reminded herself that she needs to check up on Eddie to see why he spent the night drinking so much that he couldn't even hold the bottle. 

One thing Winter learned throughout her relationship with Henry and working at the hospital with male patients who were admitted for alcohol poisoning, is that there is always a reason a man gets drunk alone, more like a trauma that they can't handle, and it is something they can't deal with sober. If Eddie was drinking this much alone that he could barely hold the bottle, then something was wrong.

"Edz?" Winter said. He didn't even know that she had came home. He put the bottle down and looked at her walking up to him, "Why are you drinking? What's wrong?"

Winter looked at his sad expressions as he sat at the kitchen island. He was so discombobulated and disgruntled. 

"Myra's lawyer contacted me today to talk about my business..." he said as he looked down at the empty shot glass, "Apparently, since she's co-owner, she can fuck me out of business." 

"Excuse me?" Winter asked surprised. "She's trying to destroy your business because you want out of the marriage?" 

"Yeah! It's..." Eddie said disgruntled with his eyes squinting from all the shots of tequila he drank, "...It's crazy. It's fucking... fucking..."

"Psychotic?" Winter suggested. 

"Fucking..." he looked at her loopy, "That's the word!" Eddie collected himself as he thought about everything that had happened that day, "I ended up seeing her this afternoon."

Winter blinked, "You saw Myra?" 

"After the lawyer came over, I needed to talk to her. I knew not hearing from her since February mean't something big was going to happen," he sighed.

"What did she say?" Winter asked. 

"She said she found loop-holes in my contract for my business that if I go against her, she could destroy everything I created..." Eddie said defeatedly, "Then she said, since we have a joint bank account and she has the best lawyers in the country, the will find loop-holes that will basically leave her with my money and estate, and I pretty much walk away with an empty wallet." 

All this news made Winter's scars on her stomach begin to ache for him. Eddie had so much power but no backbone. How does anyone develop a backbone when they're born into manipulation and abuse? 

"Edz, she can't blackmail you like this..." Winter said brokenheartedly for this depressed man, her best friend, her light that has taken her from out of her own darkness. 

Eddie remained quiet for a few seconds before he looked into her eyes and she could see how defeated he felt, "She said if I move back and we work on our marriage, then I can keep my business and I can keep my money." 

Winter felt her legs become numb; She was so use to having Eddie living with her, having the both of them leaning on each other for support in their own traumas, "Edz..." 

"Winter, my business and my money is the only control I have in this shitty world..." Eddie said sadly. "If I lose those things, I'm nothing." 

"Hey..." Winter said seriously as she grabbed his hand, "Edz, she's manipulating you... She can't take these things away from you. She's trying to scare you. You know this is abusive, right?" 

Eddie softly smiled as he looked at her hand in his, "Your hands are always so soft..." 

"Focus, Edz..." Winter said sadly. She knew that if Eddie didn't feel financially secure, he would have a mental breakdown. This was going to be the end of what they created. 

"I've never had to deal with this before, Winter..." Eddie began, staring into her eyes, "My brain says I need to do what I need to do to keep myself financially stable, but my heart wants you. Why does this always end up with me being broken hearted? Why did I make so many stupid decisions in my life? Like... Fuck! I'm a powerful person in the financial sector, yet I have zero power! I make stupid choices, and it leads me to this."

Winter paid attention to Eddie's thumb rubbing her palm like crazy as he spoke, "I'm really sorry, Edz... I still think you can get yourself a good lawyer and come out of this with your business and your money. I know you're happy living here with me, and I'm happy you're here, too, and I'll be sad to see you go back to a woman that treats you like you're nothing."

Eddie bit his lip as he looked up to Winter's face, "Can we still continue our relationship?"

Winter stared at Eddie and could feel her heart sinking from the question, "I don't think I could be the other woman, Edz..." 

"You wouldn't..." Eddie hated hearing those words come from her mouth, "Winter, you're the woman I want, that I've always wanted... I'm just in a bad situation right now, but I'll make things right. I just need time to figure out how I can get out of this marriage with Myra while making her think I'm going to stay so she doesn't destroy me."

Winter moistened her lips as she thought about it. She didn't want to be alone again, alone in her darkness. But she couldn't see herself having a relationship with a man who slept in a different bed at night, in a bed with his wife. 

"I'll think about it, okay?" Winter said. She didn't want to give him an answer when he had been drinking all night and was in an emotional state. She didn't want to be in this situation at all. 

Eddie nodded understandingly. "This is going to be my last night here." 

Winter took a moment to let those words sink in. In her mind, it mean't that this was going to be the last night that she was going to be free from her darkness and nightmares. 


	13. Part 13: Henry's Memory Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you get caught up in this story, be sure to read the first book of my series: Love Above The Sewers (CHAPTER 1): A Henry Bowers Love Story -
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

****   


** Saturday April 21, 2012 (One Months & Seven Days Before Pennywise's Return) **

Henry kneeled down on the kitchen floor as he hammered into the counter, trying to fix a broken board underneath the sink in his family house; His house. 

While he had his phone on speaker phone on the top of the counter, he waited for someone to answer his call. 

"You've reached Castle Rock's Veterinarian Hospital, how can I help you today?"

Henry took his head out from under the sink and talked loudly for the receptionist to hear him; "Yeah, hi! I'm just wondering if you have a Veterinarian Doctor working there named Winter Callaghan?" 

"Um... No, sir, we don't," said the male receptionist. 

Henry winced his head in frustration; It was the forty-sixth Veterinarian Clinic he called that Saturday afternoon. He had covered thirty-eight states in four years, and he finally got to the phone book closest to home. "Have you ever had anyone by that name working there before?" 

"No, sir," he said. 

Henry let it sink in that it was another miss; "Okay, thanks! Bye..." He grabbed his phone and hung up. He took his sharpie and crossed out Castle Rock's Veterinarian Hospital in his Maine phonebook. 

Fixing his family's house up and making calls from his phonebook had been his Saturday's for the past three years. He wasn't going to stop until he called every Callaghan and every Veterinarian clinic in the country.

He sat himself on the floor and crossed his legs in front of him. He was frustrated and annoyed with all the work he had to finish in the kitchen, let alone the whole house. Then trying to track down Winter made him feel anxious as four years had passed and he had gotten no leads in tracking her down. As Henry sat there and stared at the back door in the kitchen leading to the backyard, he just needed to sit there and clear his mind, but he never felt like his mind could ever be completely cleared...

_"Jim, I think this is the first time I've seen you in years without your police uniform on!" Ruth exclaimed to her little brother who was sitting at the kitchen table cutting vegetables._

_"He finally decided to wash it!" Will laughed, causing Jim to laugh._

_"Yeah, it was wafting out a smell the last time I was wearing it," Jim added with a laugh._

_The door to the backyard opened and Trish, Allan and Winter Callaghan entered the kitchen with hand-fulls of food dishes._

_"Happy Thanksgiving!" exclaimed Jim, Will, Earl, Robert and Ruth._

_"Happy Thanksgiving!" The Callaghan's smiled back._

_Seventeen-year-old Henry put down the potato masher and licked some potato off of his finger before he went over to Winter and took the casserole dish out of her hands. It was covered in tin-foil but it smelled good._

_Henry put the dish to his nose and inhaled, "Did you make this?" he smiled._

_Winter squinted her eyes suspiciously at her boyfriend, "Yeah... Why are you asking with that smile?"_

_Henry shifty-eyed from the food to his girlfriend over and over again, "I've never had any of your cooking before..."_

_"Well, don't look at me like that, as if I poisoned it or something!" she giggled._

_Henry bursted out laughing and put the dish on the counter. He went back up to her and put his hands behind her head and began kissing her lips, switching from her top lip to her bottom lip again and again, forgetting everyone else in the kitchen and just enjoyed kissing his girlfriend. Winter grabbed a hold of the fabric of his dark blue dress-shirt and kissed him back over and over again. They were so into their world that they didn't feel uncomfortable by their family members having to walk around them._

_"Gosh, Henry!" Ruth exclaimed from the sink, "She's not the main-course, for Pete's sakes!"_

_Henry stopped kissing her but kept his face close as he smiled and said, "No, she's my desert."_

_"Henry!" Ruth exclaimed at her son._

_"Oh, my God, Henry!" Winter exclaimed as Will, Jim, Earl and Robert laughed at Henry's comment._

_Winter bursted out laughing as she turned pink; "I can't believe you said that in front of our families!"_

_Henry continued to laugh as he admired the love of his life adoringly as she laughed._

_"Winter, I didn't raise him that way!" Ruth joked, "I'm pretty sure he inherited his humour from his father."_

_"It's not humour, Ruthie..." Earl said as he went up to the appetizer plate and grabbed a piece of cheese, "It's charm. Henry and I have charm. You should know this; I won you with my charm."_

_Ruth gently hit her husband with her dishcloth and shook her head._

_"Actually, I think he gets it from the men from this side of the family!" Will laughed._

_"He learns his way from his Uncle Jim! Okay, guys?" Jim joked._

_As they all talked, Winter kept her eyes on Henry and shook her head as she smiled at him._

_"Does this mean we're having Winter for desert and not the chocolate pie?" Henry's little sister, Sally, asked._

_Winter hit her hand to her forehead and whispered, "Oh... My... God..."_

_Robert put his hand on Sally's shoulder and answered, "No, Sal; You and I get all the chocolate pie. Winter is only Henry's desert!" He let out a chuckle and all the men in the house laughed._

_Winter continued to turn different shades of pink as she stared at Henry, who was still smiling from amusement. Winter shook her head at him._

_Sally walked up to Winter and asked her, "Do you taste like frosting?"_

_"Strawberry frosting," Henry teased as he stared at Winter._

_"Oh!" Sally exclaimed, and curiously Sally took her own arm and licked her skin. She made a face and said, "Yuck! I taste like salt." Then she ran away into the next room._

_Winter continued to stare at Henry, who was trying not to smile from all the teasing, "You're so lucky that I'm head over heels in love with you..." Winter said._

_Henry wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled, "How much do you love me?"_

_"Hmm..." Winter lifted her hand up and pinched her thumb and index fingers close together, "Like, that much..." she teased._

_"Oh, really? Just a pinch?" Henry smiled._

_Winter smiled, "Okay, more like this..." she parted her fingers a bit more._

_"It's still the wrong answer," Henry laughed as he began to tickle her sides; Winter began to laugh loudly as she was very ticklish._

_"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Winter laughed as she pleaded for him to stop; Henry stopped and looked at her. She looked at him seriously and said, "I love you so much that I can't just show it to you that easily. My love for you goes across the universe, like, a million times."_

_Henry stared at her lovingly and kissed her lips, "That's more like it," he smiled._

Henry grabbed his mug of coffee and went out to sit on the porch swing to watch the sun-setting. He felt like he needed to clear his mind. After hours of fixing little things in the house and looking through a phonebook made him exhausted. 

He sat there as he watched the houses on the other side of the street. Usually the families on the street were out, playing outside, but it was a rainy Saturday. There was a lot more rain this spring and a colder breeze. Henry only remembered one spring in Derry that the weather was so dark, rainy and cold, and that was the spring of 1997. The spring the town got terrorized by the monster in a clown outfit. 

He scratched his eyebrow as he wondered if Mike was thinking the same thing about the weather. They both had the impression that the clown's return was going to be sooner than they could imagine. The idea of not seeing Winter before Pennywise's return scared him a little bit; He wanted to find her so bad, but he didn't want her risking her life again in the sewers. 

"Hey, Henry!" his neighbour called out from the street and waved to him. It was a neighbour that has been living next door since Henry was a kid. 

Henry looked up and snapped out of his thoughts, "Hey, Jeff!" he waved back. 

Anyone who talked to Henry, that knew him from childhood, knew Henry was a broken-hearted man. He would sit on the porch swing, lost in his thoughts and thinking about his long-lost love. The pain in his heart was usually written in his expression and everyone could see it who had known him for years. They especially noticed that, for a kid who would smile and laugh a lot, even as a coping mechanism, barely smiled anymore as an adult. 

As the sun continued to set and Henry was lost in his thoughts, his attention went up to the full moon. Sometimes his mind would make him remember the time when he was in the hospital, caring for Winter, and Pennywise showed up to him in the moon, directing him to kill the losers. Most of the time, when he looked up to the moon, he thought of Winter. 

_"So, I was thinking..." Winter began as she curled up to Henry on the porch swing with his arm around her shoulders. They had just finished Thanksgiving dinner with his family and hers, and they wanted some time to themselves while their families talked and laughed in the living room. "Since we both hate crowds but love concerts, when we go to see Green Day next weekend, we can leave before their encore so we can beat the crowd."_

_"You don't mind missing 'Time of Your Life'? I know Green Day's your favourite band and I don't want you to regret missing their encore, babe..." Henry said as he pulled her into him as they swung slowly in the moonlight._

_Winter shook her head, "We can knock about forty-five minutes of trying to get through a crowd. I would rather spend those forty-five minutes just you and me."_

_Henry smiled, "Just you and me... That's all I want, too."_

_As Henry and Winter looked up to the starry sky, they heard people walking up the street and passing the house. It sounded like teenage boys laughing._

_"CRIKEY!" shouted Richie with an Australian accent as he pointed towards the two on the porch swing, "It's the mating ritual of two horny teenagers!" In his normal voice, he shouted, "Are you guys turning that porch swing into a bondage swing?!" he yelled towards them._

_Henry laughed at the random comment, "Does Richie not know how to talk to people like a normal person?"_

_Winter giggled, "No... No, he really doesn't know how."_

_As Richie walked up to the house, the other two boys following him could be seen as they approached the porch lights. It was Richie, Eddie and Bill._

_As they approached, Eddie said to Richie, "There's no way that porch swing could be turned into a bondage swing, Richie. Have you ever seen what a bondage swing looks like? It doesn't look like that!"_

_"And you've seen a bondage swing?" Richie stared at him as they walked up the steps to the porch, "Oh, right! Your mom has one in her walk-in closet! She likes guys to pound her like ground beef!"_

_"Richie, that's really disgusting... I don't need to picture my mom on a bondage swing..." Eddie said with a disgusted look on his face._

_"H-Hey, Win-Winter and Henry," Bill said, the only one who took a moment to say hi like a normal person. "H-Happy Thanksgiving!"_

_"Happy Thanksgiving!" Winter and Henry smiled at the three juniors._

_Eddie looked at Winter in her purple dress with her black tight jean jacket over it, "You don't usually wear dresses, Winter..."_

_Richie rolled his eyes, "What's your point, Barf-breath?"_

_"I just think she looks nice in dresses, Butt-Head!" Eddie snapped as he looked at Richie, "Why do you always get on my case when I want to compliment her?"_

_"Because if I had a quarter jar for every time you tried to compliment her, I would be rolling in money!" Richie said as he wiped his glasses._

_"Actually, you would be rolling in germs and bacteria! All that bacteria could infect any cuts you have, and go into your bloodstream, and kill you!" Eddie said._

_"But if Winter went and rolled in a pool of nasty quarters, you would, too!" Richie shrugged, "It's just facts! You can't deny it, because it's a fact. Even if the quarters had the Syphillis virus on it, you would still rub yourself all over them."_

_"C-Can you gu-guys shut up?" Bill asked annoyed at the two bickering guys. Their bickering had been a daily thing since May. Something had happened that caused Richie to start picking on Eddie every time he was noticeably complimenting or blushing over Winter. Eddie had been infatuated with Winter for a long time, at least since their Christmas performance when they saw each other as adults; But all of a sudden, for some reason, it started to bother Richie and no one knew why._

_"What Eddie actually means when he says you look nice in that dress, Winter, is that you should wear that in the summer when you and Henry go for your weekly picnics in the Barrens. Maybe you should invite Eddie to one of your picnics, too..." Richie tried not to explode with laughter from his own humour, "He will bring the Weiner if you bring the buns..."_

_Eddie kicked his shin, "Shut up, Richie!"_

_Winter and Henry looked at each other, wondering when the three of them were going to leave so they could be alone. They didn't pick up where Richie was going with his picnic joke._

_"H-How was your Th-Thanksgiv-v-v-ing?" Bill asked Henry and Winter, changing the subject._

_Winter smiled, "It was really nice. How about yours, Bill?" Winter mentally reminded herself that this had been his first Thanksgiving without Georgie. Winter couldn't help looking at Bill with some guilt in her expression. He didn't know the guilt she had over his little brother._

_"I-It was ok-okay... My uncle ca-came over, so th-that was pr-pretty cool," he smiled softly._

_"Speaking of which..." Henry tapped on the window leading into the living room. Everyone in the living room looked over, and Henry shouted, "Uncle Will, your star performers are here!"_

_Will smiled and went over to the window; He waved at the three boys happily. Out of everyone in the school, Bill, Eddie, Richie, Winter and Stan were his favourite students after the band project they did the year before. All three of the boys waved back with a smile._

_"W-We should get going..." Bill pointed out._

_"Good idea, Bill!" Richie began, "It's Eddie's mom's bath time and he needs to scrub under her pits and boobs."_

_Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head._

_"See you later, guys," Eddie said as the three of them walked away from the Bowers property._

_"Bye!" Winter and Henry called out to them as they left._

_Henry kissed the side of Winter's head as she looked up towards the night sky. As she did so, in a moment of passion, Henry said, "You're my moon."_

_Winter laughed, "Why the moon? Is the moon even important?"_

_Henry chuckled at her question, "Of course it is! The moon gives a little light for us when it's nighttime. Without it, the world would be dark at night. That's why you're my moon; You spread light even when I feel like I'm trapped in darkness. You're also my North Star, because you always bring me back home to where I belong." He quickly kissed her lips, "You're my universe."_

This whole Saturday for Henry was a memory lane. His photo album of past events wouldn't close no matter where he went. Even when he went grocery shopping, the memories wouldn't stop and he would find himself zoned out while walking up and down the aisles. He was so exhausted that he went up to his bed early to get some shut-eye. 

When Henry moved back to his family's house, he turned his childhood bedroom into his own little library. He was now sleeping in the master bedroom. It was his dream to have a house with a big study that he could use to organize all his books that he loved reading. He still read all the time, even up to this day. He already had his book open to where he last stopped reading the night before. This time he was in the middle of 'Interview With The Vampire' by Anne Rice.

_Twenty-seven year old Winter crawled into bed and placed her hand over Henry's book as he laid there. She laid beside him, looking at him seriously._

_"Hey, Beautiful," Henry said exhaustedly. Winter got home early, and Henry didn't drink that night since he wasn't alone with the three ghosts._

_"Hey..." she greeted as she placed her hand on the side of his face and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I've been thinking, and I think I'm going to take the day off tomorrow to spend it with you."_

_Henry weakly smiled, "You don't have to, babe. I'll be fine here on my own." It was his day off._

_She looked into his eyes, "That's the thing... You won't be alone. When I'm not with you, they're here torturing you, and then you drink to cope with them." A tear began to form underneath her eyelid, "When will they leave you alone?" she whispered._

_Henry wished he knew the answer. At times, having the three of them following him and talking to him non-stop made him consider ending his life. It was always just a thought, since he would never do that to Winter. He loved her and needed her so much in his life, that the idea of dying and leaving her alone in the world frightened him._

_He wiped the tear from her eyelid, "It's something that we'll figure out in time, babe. All I know is that you keep me safe. Every time you're in a room with me, they're not around. Do you remember Mike from Derry?"_

_Winter nodded._

_"He once told me, during the time with the clown terrorizing Derry, that your force and my force together somehow protects each other," he smiled softly at her, "That's why I'm safe when you're with me. That's why I need to do all that I can to protect you, because our bodies can die even though our energy lives. I don't know what I would do without you. Until the day I die, we're soulmates in this world."_

_"Why do you always say it like that? Like you're going to be the one to die first?" she asked._

_Henry smiled, "Because I would never let anything take you away from me. I think you'll do better in a world without me than I would do in a world without you."_

_Winter shook her head, "That's not true. Even if I did move on and was able to function normally, I'd probably feel like something huge was missing. Besides, my scars would be hurting all the time when some random guy tries to take me on a date, and even the idea of dating someone other than you makes me feel sick to my stomach."_

_Henry let out a small laugh, "Yeah, that's true. Not everyone looks at you as someone they want to dig their claws into, though. At least you have that sixth sense knowing who is actually there for you and who isn't. If I lived in a world without you, I would be broken. I'd probably turn into a hermit."_

_Winter looked at him sadly, "I just want you to beat them, so you can get your life back again. I'm fine with putting marriage on hold and having a family on hold, but I just want you back without the three of them and without the alcohol."_

_Henry looked up and down her face; That was the gift he wanted to give to her. He wanted to figure out how to ditch them. He knew the alcohol would be easy to escape after getting rid of Ace, Vic and Belch_. 

_He put his hand through her hair and said, "Your my moon; My light in my darkness. You're also my North Star; You'll guide me back home to myself. All I need is my universe."_

Henry pinched the bridge of his nose as tears began to fall from his eyes. There were so many memories all day and he couldn't cope with them. He didn't think there was anyway he could continue his life without Winter back in his life, and he didn't know how he managed the four years without her. 

He put his book aside and grabbed his laptop. He opened it up to every social media account he created and looked her name up in the search bar. He also grabbed the state of Colorado phonebook and flipped the book to list all the Callaghan's in the state. 

At ten in the evening, he started from the Z. Callaghan's and worked his way up. 


	14. Part 14: Crossing Paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> *Get ready for a new Stephen King character to join the story! Read through to find out who... It's kind of obvious what other story is crossing into this one if you're familiar with the first book in this series :) ! THAT'S YOUR HINT!*

** **

** Friday April 27, 2012 (One month before Pennywise's Return) **

Winter had spent the night working at The Derry General Hospital. She had worked the 6PM - 6AM shift. She was too exhausted from the shift that night, so she decided to remain in Derry and pay for a cheap motel room for a few hours to sleep, and then head on her two hour bus trip back to Castle Rock. 

Now that she was alone again, since Eddie had moved back in with his wife, Winter could feel the loss of her friend and companion. Her Sleep Paralysis came back, so sleepless nights had become a thing for her again, which caused her depression to re-surface. It was always the same paralysis she found herself trapped in; Her laying in her bed and suddenly Henry falling from the ceiling and hanging from his neck from a suicide attempt with the voices of Ace, Belch and Vic in the background taunting him. 

If it wasn't her Sleep Paralysis acting up at night, it was also just her normal terrors of being stuck in the sewers with the older woman that was always with her in her dreams. Winter always wondered who that woman was and why her subconscious created her when Winter spent those three days in the sewers mostly by herself. She only recalled Georgie and Lily with her, Ace as well, but not this older woman who she follows in the sewers in her dream. 

Winter remembered the dream she had that morning at the Derry motel very clearly...

_"Who are you?!" Winter shouted at the older woman in her 1950's outfit that had been torn, covered in dirt and sewer water._

_The old woman sighed frustrated, "Winter, I can't keep telling you over and over again who I am! I have been down here since 1958, you've been down here since 1997, and every time you wake up from your dreams, you forget me - you forget everything!" She grabbed a hold of Winter's shoulders, "Winter, you've got to wake up and stay with reality!"_

_Winter shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about, and I would really love an explanation! How did we find each other?!"_

_The older lady shook her head, the sewage water dripping from her long grey hair, "I'm not explaining it to you right now..."_

_"Why not?!"_

_"Because, Winter..." she looked at her seriously, "Don't you feel the energy around you? Don't you feel it?"_

_Winter took a moment to look around the dark tunnel, and she didn't know what she felt, but she could see the sewer walls pulsating._

_They were becoming alive._

_The old lady looked towards the pulsating walls; "It's waking up..."_

That afternoon, Henry Bowers went to have a coffee with his brother, Robert, who had come by the shop to discuss the legal side of the business. After all, Henry hired his brother to take care of any legal stuff that needed to be done with his business.

Robert had been working full-time in a lawyers firm in Pittsburgh, and he took every opportunity he could to visit his little brother. After that night when Henry attempted to kill himself in Robert's basement, Robert reached out to communicate with Henry as often as he could. 

As they sat in the coffee house, the same one Henry and Eddie had talked over coffee over a month ago, Henry and Robert laughed over the hype of the new Expendables movie. They both loved action movies, and they could talk for hours about movies. However, Henry felt safe talking to Robert about anything deep in his life. 

"So, you're doing okay, Henry?" Robert asked his little brother concerned. 

Henry nodded as he took a sip from his coffee, "I'm not too bad. Business is good, the house is coming along after working on it for all these years..."

"Henry, I don't care about the business or the work around the house, I want to know if _you're_ okay - Henry Bowers. Is Henry okay?" Robert asked seriously. 

Henry paused for a moment as he thought about his words, "I'm okay... I keep distracted, I guess..." he shrugged. 

Robert took a sip of his coffee; He knew Henry kept himself distracted by doing little projects around the house and trying to find his high school sweetheart. It worried Robert that Henry was never going to stop trying to find Winter when it had already been four years with no luck. He was scared that Henry was just going down a road of disappointment in his impossible goal in looking for his love. 

Robert remembered very clearly how in love Henry was with Winter from such a young age. Robert remembered everything from the moment he met his brother, and Winter, who was only Henry's friend at the time, to watching them live together in a loving common law-ship, to Henry destroying his life with alcohol after the death of their dad and uncles. Then when Winter had left him, it tore Henry up to pieces, and Robert had to pick up those pieces. 

"Are you going out with friends or seeing if dating could be a possibility?" Robert asked. 

Henry looked at his coffee mug in his hands and cleared his throat; "I have my friend, Mike... I see him pretty often. I do go out once in a while with my A.A. sponsor, Chelsea, but she just checks up on me to make sure I'm staying sober."

Robert became interested, "So, there is a woman that you see sometimes?" 

Henry leaned back in his chair and shook his head with a little smile, "It's not like that... It feels more like checking in with a therapist once a month..." Henry looked at Robert's small smile at the fact that Henry at least saw a woman once in a while, "I'm not interested."

Robert chuckled, "Okay, okay... I'll drop it then. Is that who you're seeing tonight?"

Henry nodded, "The last weekend of every month, so yep!" 

As Henry and Robert caught up in the coffee shop on Derry Main Street, Winter was doing some quick grocery shopping just down the street from them. She had planned to grab some groceries and look around town a little bit, since she hadn't been in Derry since her last Derry hospital shift. She had gone straight home after that shift and all the ones before. Today she decided she was going to let herself get reacquainted with her old town. 

Winter was strolling through the cookie aisle with her little grocery basket. As she examined which chocolate chip cookie looked more satisfying, she heard her phone ringing in her pocket. 

It was Eddie. 

"Hey, Edz," Winter said as she put her phone to her ear. 

"Hey..." he said gently, "I've been trying to get a hold of you for a week, and... Are you avoiding me?" 

She kind of was. He had chosen to work on his marriage with his wife, even if it did seem like he had no other choice in the matter, and she didn't want to come between him and his wife. Eddie, on the other hand, was not done trying to win Winter's heart. He loved her and wanted to try and work things out between them, even if that mean't going behind his wife's back. 

Winter looked up towards the ceiling as she tried to figure out what to tell him; "Well, I was working in Derry General all last night, so I missed your calls when I was there. I'm not avoiding you, I'm just trying to figure out how we can still be friends and put everything else aside while you work on your marriage. I don't want to come between you and your wife if you're trying to work things out, y'know?"

Eddie became quiet on the other end. He didn't know how he could make things right; All he wanted was Winter and wanted to keep their relationship alive. 

"D-Do you hate me for leaving?" he asked sadly. His voice almost broke out into a Bill stutter. 

"No! No, of course not!" Winter began to feel bad for him, "I don't blame you for leaving, Edz. Like, not at all! You've just got to figure things out, and if you really want to leave your wife, I think you need to find a good lawyer." 

Eddie sighed on the other end, but then he asked, "You're in Derry right now?" He had nearly forgotten that Henry was back in Derry, and he became nervous that they could bump into each other. 

Winter could sense some panic in his voice; "Yeah... I'm just getting some groceries, will probably walk up and down Main Street, and then catch the bus home."

"Stay on the west side of Main Street!" he said. The east side was where Henry's mechanic business was. 

Winter raised an eyebrow, "Why?" 

Quickly, Eddie came up with something; "I'm in Derry, too!" Although he wasn't; He was in Rumford, Maine at his house while Myra ran errands. "I'll pick you up in a couple of hours..." He quickly thought of something, "I want to do something with you. It'll be dark by the time I see you, so just stay safe. Wait for me at a coffee shop."

Winter shrugged; It had been a couple of weeks since she's seen Eddie; "Sure! Just call me when you're in the area." 

When Winter got off the phone with Eddie and went back to paying attention to which type of chocolate cookies she should get, she heard a voice down the aisle. There was a young woman standing in the cookie selections, trying to figure out which cookies she wanted. She had long light brown hair with a few purple streaks, a tiny figure, and looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties, maybe. 

"What do you want? What do you want? What do you want?" she mumbled to herself as she looked at all the different types of cookies. 

Winter kept glancing at her, and eventually the young woman looked at her. They locked eyes very quickly. Winter's breath got stuck in her throat when she realized who the young woman was. 

"WINTER?!" she exclaimed as she walked up to her. 

_'No... Friggin... Way! Sally Bowers!'_

"SALLY?!" Winter exclaimed. 

They embraced each other in a big hug. 

"How have you been?!" Winter grabbed her hands and looked at the young woman she always thought of as her own little sister. She couldn't believe the last time she remembered seeing Sally was when she was just entering high school. 

Sally stared at Winter with her eyes-wide open, her heart beating frantically that she bumped into the woman her older brother was still in love with. 

"I've been great! I'm in college for fashion design. I'm just visiting my mom for the weekend," she smiled. "How are you?! Holy shit! I can't believe I just bumped into you!" 

Winter laughed, "Me too! I'm floored right now. I'm doing pretty good. I'm just doing some groceries before heading home." 

Sally nodded as she kept staring at Winter, "You can't go home without saying hi to Henry!"

Winter's heart fell into her stomach. _'Is Henry in Derry?!'_

"He would _kill_ me if I told him I bumped into you and didn't get you to go see him!" she exclaimed excitedly. 

Winter was speechless as her stomach filled up with butterflies; "Wait... Henry's back in Derry?" Winter wanted to know more. She wanted Sally to tell her everything . She wanted to spill her guts about how she still loved Henry and wanted him back in her life. "How is he doing? Is he doing okay? Does he live here?"

"He's doing okay. You know Henry..." she smiled as she shook her head thinking about her brother, "He's still introverted to a fault. He's been more into himself since coming out of the hospital four years ago..."

_'Wait! Hospital?! Four years ago?!'_

"Spends most of his time working, and... Well... Whatever he does in his spare time," she smiled and shrugged. "Probably reading." 

Winter nodded as she listened; "What were you saying about coming out of the hospital? Why was he in the hospital?" 

"Oh!" Sally's expression looked like she was telling her too much, that she said something that maybe Henry should tell her, "You should probably talk to him about that. I don't want to put my nose where it doesn't belong." 

Winter nodded, "Yeah, I get it..." Winter wondered if he had an accident, and she immediately became concerned, "So, where can I find him?" 

"He works at my dad's old garage. He owns it now. You know where it is..." she smiled at her, "It's called Bowers Mechanic Garage now. Same spot where it's always been." 

Winter smiled; She felt proud for Henry for taking over the garage and opening it back up. She was so happy for him that she could have broken down crying right there. 

"You better go grab your cookies and go say hi to my brother," Sally smiled. 

"I all of a sudden don't feel like I need cookies anymore..."

_'I just want to go see Henry and feel myself in his arms again!'_

Winter smiled, "It was so good seeing you, Sally! Good luck in college, but hopefully we see each other soon, okay?" Winter pulled her into a hug. 

Sally nodded, "For sure! See ya, Winter!" 

As she looked at Sally one last time, she could see that her eyes were so similar to Henry's. They both had the piercing blue eyes. Now that she knew where to find him, she didn't even care about groceries anymore, she just wanted to go find Henry. 

Winter left her basket of groceries in the aisle and ran out the door. She headed east on Main Street. 

As Winter walked towards Henry's garage, Henry and Robert were sitting in Henry's pick-up truck just outside of the coffee house. If Henry and Robert weren't facing the building in the vehicle, they would have seen Winter eventually passing them as she walked on the sidewalk. Winter wouldn't have recognized the pick-up truck, though, since Henry only bought it a year ago. 

Henry sighed as he held onto the steering wheel in park; "It's just a constant feeling of needing her back in my life, man. People kept saying the past four years that I will get over her, but it's impossible. I don't ever want to get over her. She's the only woman I've ever wanted."

Robert nodded empathetically as he listened; There was not a time when they hung out where Henry wouldn't talk about Winter, and it concerned Robert very much. 

"Maybe you should consider asking that Sponsor of yours out... What did you say her name was?" Robert asked, bring up the idea of dating someone else again. 

"Chelsea..." Henry said quickly and uninterested, "No, I'm not interested in her. I see her once a month with an update on how I'm doing, and that's it. Sometimes we might go for a coffee, or go for dinner, or we'll talk on the phone. It's a once a month thing, and it's just to make sure that I'm in a good state of mind."

"So, what are you doing tonight with her?" Robert asked. 

"I think coffee..." Henry said, wondering himself what was planned. "It's literally an hour of us catching up. That's it. She's not interested either. I'm pretty sure she's married and it's just her job to look out for me." He just wanted Robert to let it go and realize that he didn't want anyone other than Winter. After a moment of silence, Henry looked at his older brother, "I should get back to work. I'll give you a ride back to your car." 

Meanwhile, Winter had arrived to Bowers Mechanic Garage. She looked at the building, and all the memories she had of meeting Henry after he was finished working with his dad came rushing back to her. The building looked the same from the outside, except for the sign with the small change of the business name. 

As she walked inside, she noticed all of the mechanics working on different vehicles. Henry was definitely running his business like a professional. 

As she continued to walk to the front desk, her heart was beating like crazy as she realized that Henry could be in front of her at any moment, and they would be embracing each other. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep back the tears. 

As Winter was inside the building looking for Henry, Henry parked his vehicle beside Robert's in his business's back parking lot. He waved bye to his brother as he drove away.

Henry was walking through the parking lot, and as he was, one of the seventeen years olds working for him ran up to him in a hurry. It was one of the his favourite employees to work with, because he reminded Henry of himself when he was seventeen. He was very introverted and spent most of his time reading and working on cars, just like Henry when he was a teenager. That is, before he met Winter, who he then ended up spending most of his time with. Henry and this kid had different styles, though; Henry was more laid-back and grunge looking in high school and this kid had a geeky look, especially since his thick-rimmed glasses were being held together by a piece of tape. Henry figured he was bullied in school, but he didn't want to bring it up. Henry really did enjoy this kid's company. 

Good old Arnie Cunningham.

"Hey, Henry!" Arnie said to him with a smile. 

Henry gave him a welcoming smile, he was just coming in for a small shift that late afternoon as he had just gotten out of school that day; "Hey, Arnie! What's good, man?"

"Oh, nothing!" he laughed lightly, "Are we still good for tonight for you to check out that car I wanted you to inspect?" He asked. 

Henry completely forgot that he made these plans with Arnie before planning his check-up with Chelsea. 

"Oh, man! I totally forgot," Henry said, and he decided in that moment that he owed it to the little guy who reminded him of himself from back in high school; "We're still good for it, though." He decided he would re-schedule with Chelsea. "So, what's so great about this car anyway that you need me to check it out?" 

Arnie shrugged, "Honestly, my best friend, Dennis, has been on my ass about getting someone with a good background in cars to check it out before I buy it. He thinks the car is a piece of shit and is hoping that you talk me out of buying it." 

Henry lightly laughed, "Man, if you want the car, then get it. What could be so bad about it? Besides, you're a really good mechanic for a seventeen year old. You remind me of myself when I was your age." 

"Wow! Thanks, Henry! That really means a lot to hear you say that!" Arnie exclaimed excitedly, "Ever since I first laid eyes on the car, it was like she was calling out to me... It was like she was mean't to be mine!"

Henry knew he must have loved the car if he was calling it a _'she_ '. 

"Just please come check it out with Dennis and I tonight, please? Dennis is coming here after work and we can all go together," he said excitedly. "I really want you to see her, Henry! I trust your opinion more than anyone else!"

Henry laughed as the teenager praised him for his cars expertise, "Yeah, no problem! I'll wait around for your friend to come by, and we'll take my truck." 

As Henry and Arnie chatted a bit more outside, Winter went up to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the man at the front desk asked. His name tag said Craig, and he was a young guy, maybe in college with acne all over his face and dirty blond hair. 

Winter felt very taken back knowing that this was one of Henry's employees; "Hi, I'm wondering if I can talk to Henry? Is he in right now?" It even felt like a surreal question to ask. 

"Not at the moment. He went out for an outing with his brother." 

_'Oh, my God... Robert...'_

"Will he be back later?" she asked; She really wanted to see him. 

Craig nodded, "Yeah, I don't know for how long, though. He usually takes off early on Fridays after doing pay-roll stuff. I think he was planning to leave earlier because he has a date tonight." 

Winter's heart stopped at the mention of a date; "Oh..." The thought made it hard for her to breathe, "Sorry... I didn't know he had a girlfriend?" 

"Oh... Wait..." Craig became nervous, thinking he said something that he shouldn't have said; "You're not, like, a girlfriend or wife, are you?" 

His nervousness was making it worse. 

Winter pursed her lips and shook her head, "No... Sorry... I just didn't realize that he had... Um..."

_'Moved on...'_

"I should go..."

Winter turned to walk away. 

"Should I tell him you came by? What's your name?" Craig asked before she left. 

Winter looked back at him, but she didn't want to stay because she felt the flood of tears building behind her eyes and she didn't know how to hold them back; "No... don't worry about it." 

_'If he moved on, I don't want to mess up his new life...'_

Winter quickly walked out of the building with the tears pouring out of her eyes.

After the chat with Arnie, Henry and Arnie both entered the shop from the side entrance; Not the same entrance that Winter left crying.

Henry noticed Craig was looking at him, looking nervous and like he did something he shouldn't have. Henry knew the young man had some anxiety issues, and he looked like he was having a mild attack. As Henry went up to Craig to check on him, Arnie stood beside them quietly.

"What's up, man?" Henry asked him, concerned for his employee. 

"There was a woman who came in here looking for you, and I think I fucked up and told her too much, or whatever... I don't know..." he said. 

Henry squinted his eyes in thought, "Was it a customer needing invoices or something?" 

He shook his head, "No, it wasn't a customer. It was a woman who just wanted to see you. I told her that you had a date tonight..."

Right away, Henry felt his blood boiling, "You told someone something personal like that? One; I don't have a date tonight! I was going to go out for a monthly meeting! And two; you're not supposed to tell anyone anything about my personal life!" 

"I know! That's why I feel like I fucked up!" he said angrily at himself. "And then I began to feel bad, because after I said that, she looked like she was going to cry." 

Henry stood there, looking at his employee with his arms crossed. Although Craig didn't tell him any specifics, he could feel his stomach starting to feel sick when he mentioned this woman was about to cry after hearing that he had a date. His mind began to spin, wondering if Winter could have found him, and if it was her he was talking to. 

"Um..." Henry began to sweat from feeling sick and anxious. "She didn't tell you her name?"

Craig shook his head, "When I asked, she kind of just ran off... She had dark brown hair, blond highlights, she's just a bit shorter than you, looked kind of girly but gave off a rocker chick type of vibe..." 

Henry's heart began to race and he could feel the anxiety boiling up inside of him; He could feel it in his whole body. What were the chances that it could have been Winter? But his heart and gut knew it was her, and the description sounded like Winter. Henry just stood there, feeling like his body was going numb. 

"She just left, like, a minute before you walked in..." Craig mentioned. The look of anxiety on his boss' face made him even more nervous; He knew he did something really wrong. 

Arnie continued to watched the interaction with his mouth gapped open a little bit. He wondered if it was the Winter girl Henry would always be looking through the phonebooks for.

"FUCK, MAN!" Henry exploded, "WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER I HAVE A DATE?!" Henry ran off to his office. He needed to check the security footage to see if it was Winter. 

He quickly and anxiously went onto the security system and back-tracked to seven minutes ago. He watched the footage as the woman walked into the building and went up to the front desk. He only saw the back of her, but he knew it had to have been Winter. 

Henry wanted to be sure, though. He flipped from the security camera from behind her to the one at the desk to see her face. He quickly paused the footage when her face showed up clearly. 

He zoomed in, and there she was, the love of his life that he had been trying to locate for four years. She had found him, and Craig made her run away, making her think that Henry had moved on. 

Henry got up to a standing position, put his hand to his mouth and stared at the beautiful Winter Callaghan. His heart was racing and he could feel his face turning red. She was right here! She was right here looking for him in his garage! 

Henry began to feel a surge of anxiety and panic go through his body, and it was too much for him to handle as tears began to build-up in his eyes. He wondered if this was the only time he would have ever had the opportunity to see her again. 

He played the rest of the footage and saw her walking away with tears in her eyes. 

"FUCK!" Henry cried, as he punched a hole in the wall of his office. 

He paced the floor as he felt the anxiety going through his veins. 

As he continued to panic and pace, his phone sounded off the text alert in his pocket. Quickly, thinking it could have been Winter trying to contact him, he grabbed his phone. 

He opened the text and read it: 

**_Sally: 'You are SO welcome! When I ran into Winter at the grocery store, I told her to go straight to you! I expect to be thanked at your wedding :)'_ **

Another surge of anxiety went through Henry's body as he read the text message. He felt so much panic, that it caused his arms and legs to begin shaking. 

Henry left his office in a hurry with his car-keys dangling from his fingers. He was going to go out and drive around town, hoping he could find Winter. 

As he was leaving, he looked at Arnie who was standing beside Craig; "Arnie, if I need to change my plans with you tonight, I'll text you." 

"Yeah, no problem..." he said to his boss carefully, as Henry's outburst got everyone a bit on edge. 

Henry looked at Craig, "If I come back and you're still here, I will personally throw your ass out the door! We are going to have a talk in my office about this on Monday!" 

"Do I still have a job?" he asked nervously. 

"I don't know yet! If I see you here when I get back, the answer is no! I just need you out of my face for a while!" 

As Henry drove around town, he couldn't find Winter. He even checked the Barrens, the old book store they would go to a lot, her old house, Derry High School, and anywhere he thought she would have gone. He couldn't find her, though. He knew two things were for certain, though; She thought he was in a relationship, and she couldn't have lived too far from him. He knew she was definitely living in Maine and he was going to do whatever he could to find her. 


	15. Part 15: Arnie Cunningham & His Purpose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Henry walked into his mechanic business feeling exhausted, mentally and physically, from looking for Winter for two hours around Derry and not finding her.

Arnie, who was the only mechanic left in the building, looked at Henry who he could tell had a very draining day. His friend was there, too, Dennis.

Dennis was the total opposite of Arnie; He was the athletic type of teenager who looked like he cherished football more than anything else. The duo of them looked very odd together, since Arnie was definitely dorky with his small build, thick-rimmed glasses being held together with a piece of tape, and was on the chess club. The only reasons why the two were friends today was because they had been friends since they were toddlers.

Henry looked at Arnie as he walked to the customer service desk; "Hey..." Henry said with low energy. His eyes looked heavy and like he had a very crappy afternoon.

"Hey, Henry!" Arnie said, noticing the low energy in his boss, "I didn't know if you were going to come back."

Henry was moving some papers on the desk as he answered, "I would have cancelled if I found Winter..." He blew out air, "But I didn't." He looked back at Arnie, "I said I was going to check out this car for you, and I try to stick to my word. I will worry about finding her later."

Arnie weakly smiled, "Well, I hope you find her. Craig felt like shit after you left."

Henry still wasn't over it. He clipped some papers together as he listened to Arnie.

"He thinks you're going to fire him."

Henry sighed, "He's a good mechanic, so I'm not going to fire him. Since you guys start at the same time on Monday, I want you to be at the service desk while he shadows you. You're good with customer service, so I want him to learn from you for about an hour." He looked over to Arnie, "You're a good employee, Arnie. Make sure he listens to you."

Arnie grinned at the compliment. Arnie looked up to Henry so much as an individual, a mechanic, and a boss, "I'll make sure he listens to everything and that he doesn't mess up like that again."

Henry nodded satisfied, "Good!" Henry looked over to his friend, Dennis, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, "Hey, man! I'm Henry," Henry went over to him and extended his arm for him to shake his hand.

He shook his hand and said, "I know, my dad's a customer of yours. He's been coming here for years, even when your dad ran the shop. He says the both of you are the best mechanics Derry's ever had."

Henry weakly smiled, "Wow, man. Tell your dad I say thanks, and my dad would have been happy to hear that, as well." Henry had not spent a night out with two seventeen-year-old’s since he was that age, so he thought this was going to be an interesting experience. Henry looked back and forth from Arnie and Dennis in the quiet building, "So, from what I hear from Arnie, you say this car he likes is a piece of shit, and I should tell him not to buy it?"

Dennis and Arnie exchanged looks and chuckled; Dennis knew right away that Henry seemed cool. "When you see it, you'll know why it's a piece of shit."

Arnie rolled his eyes, "I can fix her up! I will find the parts and make her road safe in no time."

"Okay, but it's not even how much of a piece of crap it is!" Dennis started, "It's a really eerie car! When we first went to see it together, I sat in it, and I felt like the car wanted to consume and eat me alive."

Henry let out a tiny laugh as he listened to the two teenagers bickering. "Okay, let's go, guys. I want to be home early, so I can rip my eyes out some more going through every phone number in Maine." He said exhaustedly referring to discovering that his one and only love has to be living somewhere in Maine.

As Henry drove the two teenagers to where Arnie's dream car was, he listened to the two teenagers talking back and forth about high school stuff and what girls in Derry High School caught their eyes the most. Having the two kids talking about school stuff made Henry cheer up a little bit after the stressful day he had. Them talking about high school made Henry think back to when he was in Derry High School, and how he felt like the king of the school because he had Winter as his girlfriend.

As he continued to drive the teens to the next town over, Old Town, Maine, where the car was located at the original owner’s residence, he couldn't help but take a second look at every woman he saw out for a walk that night. Henry was determined that Winter was somewhere close by. He didn't want to miss another opportunity to see her again.

"Just pull into this driveway, Henry!" Arnie pointed from the passenger seat at a property that was full of junk on the front porch and the lawn. If he didn't know better, Henry figured a hoarder lived at this residence. Just by the looks of the property, Henry assumed that Dennis was right and the car Arnie wanted was a piece of shit.

Henry, Arnie and Dennis got out of Henry's truck and walked towards the garage in the darkness of the night. The porch light was on, but the bulb didn't light up the area too much.

Henry felt on edge as he walked with the guys towards the garage. All of a sudden, Henry was wishing that he decided to spend the rest of his evening in the comfort of his home, looking through phonebooks for Winter. Whatever the energy was that was coming towards him through that garage door, made him feel uncomfortable and unsafe, and he was beginning to feel homesick without Winter with him by his side to make him feel safe and complete.

As Henry remained quiet, he watched the two boys open up the garage door.

There was still only darkness in the garage, but Henry's head filled up with a high-pitch ringing as if there was an energy that was too overwhelming for him to take.

Flashbacks started coming to him randomly.

He remembered standing in the parking lot of Derry High School in the springtime with Vic and Belch as Henry stood there in Ace's brown leather jacket in front of Vic's 1958 Red Plymouth Fury. He saw Richie being held up to the car as Henry taunted him with the vehicle's cigarette lighter.

_"I'm really glad you like this car, because me, Victor, Belch and you are going to play a game with this car."_

As Dennis walked towards the darkness to locate the light switch, another memory came to Henry as he waited for the lights to go on as the ringing filled up his head...

He remembered being on speaker phone with his dad, Uncle Jim and Uncle Will, as they drove through town. As they were speaking to Henry, he remembered them mentioning the car that was following them through the streets. Before it ran them off the road, making them crash their car, he remembered his dad's last words to him:

_"These three guys in a red 1958 Plymouth Fury are coming head-on towards us!"_

Arnie found the light switch and turned on the garage light.

As Henry laid eyes on the vehicle, the ringing in his head immediately stopped, and he felt like time stood still.

Henry was standing a couple of feet in front of the vehicle that belonged to one of the three guys that ruined his life.

Henry jumped in fear as the shock of the car overwhelmed him.

"Jesus-FUCKING-Christ!" Henry shouted with shock, anxiety and fear as he turned away from the car.

It was the 1958 Plymouth Fury. It was not the bright red and in perfect shape vehicle he remembered; It was rusted and looked like a piece of garbage with the red paint completely fading away and the car's parts falling off of it. But it was the car, and the energy vibrating off of it felt just as if he was standing in front of Pennywise Itself.

Arnie and Dennis looked at Henry surprised by his reaction. They watched Henry back away from the car with anxiety and panic written all over his expression.

Henry looked at Arnie in fear, "This is the fucking car you want?!"

As the two boys continued to look at Henry in shock, Henry quickly composed himself, and spoke to Arnie in a very serious, yet concerned, voice; "Arnie, why do you want this car!? Look at it!"

Arnie looked around the garage, upset that another person couldn't see the vehicle like he could. "Henry, what are you talking about? It's a vintage car that I was to bring back to life. She's beautiful. I can restore her to the original form."

Henry continued to stare at the teen. He noticed, in that moment, the look in Arnie's eyes. He had never seen that look before, but it reminded him of himself when he was seventeen years old in the spring of 1997 when Pennywise was waking up, and he could feel a rage inside of him that he had never felt before.

As Arnie looked at Henry with those eyes, he immediately became very concerned for the teenage boy who he liked and reminded him of himself; "Arnie, I will give you a thousand dollars that you can put towards a good car!"

Arnie looked at him shocked, "What?! Henry, I don't need you to buy me out just because you don't want me to buy this car."

Henry tried to think fast; He needed to convince him to leave the car where it was and not bring it back to Derry, "Okay! Then I will give you more hours! You can work everyday after school and on the weekends so you can save up for a good car!"

Dennis looked at Arnie, "I think you should take that offer, Arnie. This car isn't worth the hassle."

Arnie looked from Henry to Dennis in disbelief; "Guys! I don't want any other car! This is the car I want, and I'm going to buy it and give it a total restore job! That's it!"

Henry rubbed his hand on his head that had his stubbly hair growing in. His anxiety was up and he had no idea why the car was drawing in Arnie. Not only was it a piece of crap and falling apart, but the force coming from it felt evil, and even Dennis could feel the evil from it.

Henry looked around the property as he wondered out loud, "Who's house is this?"

Dennis looked at Henry and answered as Arnie continued to walk around the car admiring it, "Roland. Roland Criss."

Henry's eyes went wide, "Criss?" He immediately thought of Vic Criss. He remembered him from looking like a teenage greaser to him burned up with one of his eyes missing with asphalt covering his whole body.

Henry rushed out of the garage and went up the porch of the house and knocked on the door. He didn't know what to expect, but he needed answers.

After a few seconds, an old man with white hair and a bald-spot opened the front door. He was in poor condition with his body hunched over and his back supporting him up with a back brace.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Henry observed the wrinkles on his face and his features. He looked exactly like Vic, but just a lot older. It caused Henry's heart to pound as he felt like he was looking at the older version of the teenage boy who taunted him in high school and followed him to Pittsburgh with Belch and Ace, causing him to fall in a rabbit hole of alcohol addiction, and the reason why he eventually lost Winter. It nearly felt like the man standing in front of him was Victor Criss.

Henry nearly felt like he was losing control of himself, as he he said, "My employee is here looking at that car in the garage..." Henry's train of thought went back towards Vic and he blurted out, "You look exactly like..." He shook his head, trying to figure out how to talk about knowing a teenager that died in 1958. He didn't know how to form the words, but he spoke his mind out anyway, "You're related to Victor Criss?"

The old man by the name of Roland gave him an angry and confused look, not able to understand how a thirty-one, almost thirty-two-year-old man, could possibly know Vic; "He was my twin brother. He died in 1958, because of his own stupidity."

Henry rubbed his throbbing head; The ringing from the car was still making him feel confused and disoriented.

"How the fuck could you possibly know Vic?" the old man asked, looking Henry up and down with a disgusted expression.

Henry tried to think of the most logical answer; Speaking that Ace was the most psychotic teenager that lived in Derry and was in the history books of Derry, he thought that could have been a logical answer; "I just know a lot about Derry's history. I know about Ace's Gang and Vic was involved with it."

The old man spat on the ground as he listened to Henry, "That kid was the reason my brother went crazy. He became stupid one day and allowed that old car of his - the one your employee is interested in - to kill him."

Henry's eyes went wide; He never knew how Vic died, but if it was the car, then that was another person that car had killed other than his dad and two uncles.

"The idiot went racing it down Main Street in Derry. Eventually he lost control of it, and it ended up crashing into a tree in the Barrens. Vic went flying from the windshield and the car and him caught fire. The car ended up surviving, but not my idiot twin brother."

Henry continued to stare at the old man named Roland; "Then why are you selling a car that someone was killed in to this seventeen year old kid? Does he know people have died from this car?"

_'Like my dad and uncles... But do you even know that? Do you even know that Vic's spirit is still attached to this car, along with Ace, Belch and Pennywise?'_

Roland shrugged, "I told him my brother died in it. He looks at the car like Vic use to... Plus, no one has showed interest in it other than that kid." Roland studied Henry's face and asked him, "How come you look like I've seen you before?"

Henry stared back at him; He had no idea how he would know him, "I don't know, sir. I'm just here to inspect the car for him."

Roland walked out of his house and began walking towards his garage. Henry followed close behind him, still stunned with how exactly he looked like Vic. Henry just wanted to go home, and wished he had Winter there to talk him down over all of this; Tell him that it's crazy that all this happened but it was going to be okay. That Arnie was going to be okay.

As Henry was looking back at the vehicle that had followed him, in its spiritual form, with Ace, Belch and Vic for two years of his life, and had killed three of his family members in its physical form, he tried his best to keep his distance. He observed how the headlights were like eyes and it felt like they were watching him. When he looked in through the windows, he felt like the energy inside of the vehicle knew who he was and was watching him. At the same time, he didn't feel like the energy in the vehicle had their eyes on him; They had their eyes on Arnie, and Henry needed to know why.

"Are you going to buy it, kid?" Roland asked as he looked at Arnie eyeing the car like it was the love of his life.

"I really want to!" Arnie exclaimed with a smile. He quickly looked at Henry, "You really think I can't restore this car?"

Henry knew he had to speak logically to Arnie, and he wouldn't be able to tell him about how the car was evil and connected to an alien clown that hibernated in the sewers of Derry. How could he even explain to Arnie that he had been in the car, in the passenger seat, driving around Derry when he was a teenager when he didn't know that Belch and Vic were ghosts and that Ace was possessing him through the jacket he was wearing? How could he even explain that when he was in the car and was wearing the jacket, Derry looked like the 1950's?

Henry had to speak to him in car language and not from his personal experience.

Henry shook his head, "This is a waste of money, Arnie. The parts for the engine would be hard to track down no matter where you look. Plus, the car would take a lot of work to get it to be road safe even if you did find the parts. That exhaust pipe will expose exhaust fumes all over the road if you could even start up the engine and attempted to drive it to your house. Honestly, man, if the cops caught you driving it to your house from here, if it will even make it to your house, they will ticket you for driving a car with fumes exhausting all over the streets and they will impound the car." Henry tried to act normal as he circled around the car from a far distance, "Do you even know if the battery works, if the oil is fine, or how the mileage is?"

Henry watched Arnie as he excitedly got into the car and took the keys from Roland who had handed them to him. Roland was obviously trying the best he could to get Arnie to just buy the car, and he was wishing he didn't bring a car expert with him.

 _'Get out of the fucking car, Arnie! Please just get out of the fucking car!'_ Henry shouted in his head.

As Arnie started the engine, it roared loudly after a few tries in turning on the engine. The radio played tunes from the 1950's.

_'I got a girl, her name's Sheila,_

_She goes batshit on tequila,_

_I got a job, it gets the job done...'_

The car tried to come alive, and it did. The body of the car shook and the exhaust was forming smoke all through the garage. Dennis and Henry began to cough from the fumes.

Arnie drove the car down the driveway. It wasn't a smooth ride as it had paused a few times.

"Hey, Henry!" Arnie called out to Henry excitedly.

As he worriedly rubbed at the back of his neck, Henry went over to the driver’s side and looked at Arnie through the open window. As he sat inside of the vehicle, it caused Henry fear in his stomach, as he wondered what the car could eventually do to Arnie if he bought it and tried to fix it up.

"Look..." Arnie pointed at the odometer in the car.

Henry looked closely at it and he squinted confused, not seeing anything like it before; "It's going backwards?"

 _'No way...'_ Henry thought to himself, _'Is the car resetting itself?!'_ As Henry stared from Arnie to the odometer going backwards, all he wanted to say was, _'Arnie, if I was your dad, I would pull you out of the car myself and make sure you never set foot around this car again!'_

Arnie smiled and looked over to Roland, "How much do you want for her?"

The question made Henry sweat. There was nothing he could say to this kid that would change his mind.

"Three-hundred!" Roland responded happily.

"The other day you said two-fifty!" Dennis said to the old man.

"Fine! Two-fifty!"

As they bargained, Henry continued to watch the car. This wasn't right. Nothing about Arnie finding this car and being drawn to it was right. He knew there was a bigger reason why all this was happening, and he wanted to figure it out. He needed to talk to Arnie, and then needed to talk to Mike. Fuck! All Henry wanted was to be at home looking for Winter, and now he had to deal with this shit.

"Arnie?" Henry spoke up, "I think you should take the night to think about it and talk to your parents if it's a good idea."

His face dropped at the mention of his parents. He softly smiled at Henry, "Just for you, boss, I will take the night to sleep on it. I can already tell you, though, that this girl is mine!" he smiled as he rubbed the steering wheel and looked at it like he was touching a female for the first time.

Roland had disappeared into the garage to look for something. After he found what he was looking for, he approached Henry.

"I know why I thought you looked so familiar..."

Henry looked at him confused, "Huh? Why?" Henry was too exhausted to deal with all this anymore.

"My brother, Vic, had this in his car when my parents got the car towed back to my property in 1958 after he died..." He handed Henry the black and white picture of seventeen-year-old Henry hanging out with Vic and Belch in their greaser attire on Main Street. "It's definitely not you, but it could be a relative. He looks a lot like you."

Henry stared at the photo in between his fingers and he could feel his breathing becoming heavier. His hand shook as he observed the photo that was taken in 1997 but was dated from 1958.

Before Dennis and Arnie could meet Henry at his truck, Henry had gone to the back of his truck and vomited on the side of the road as his fear and anxiety took a toll on him.

Henry had driven Dennis home first.

He parked on the side of the road in front of Arnie's house. He needed to understand why Arnie needed that car so badly when he could choose a much better car and not a piece of possessed crap.

Arnie looked at Henry and said, "Thanks so much for checking the car out, Henry. Even if you think it's going to be an impossible amount of work, I think I would make you proud with how good I am at restoring cars."

Henry sat there silently. He didn't want Arnie to impress him with the car. He just wanted Arnie to be okay and to continue working the way he does on other people’s cars at work.

"It's just when I saw her, I felt like I met the love of my life, y'know?" he laughed lightly.

Henry watched him as his face lit up talking about the car; "It's just a car, Arnie."

Arnie shook his head, "I know, but I've never felt that way before in my life! Then, this whole past month, I feel like I'm always raging out on my parents and there's some kids at school who pick on me like crazy, so I've really felt like shit this month. I've been so fucking angry, Henry! Then, when I saw that car, I felt peace, and when I'm inside of her, I feel like I'm the most powerful man in the world."

Henry listened intently, "Why do you think you're more angry this past month?"

He remembered being seventeen and feeling angry. It happened around this time of the year when he was seventeen, too.

Arnie shrugged, "My parents have always been very conservative people. They want to run my life for me. It's really gotten to me this month, and I've been just yelling back at them lately. Sometimes I feel like I wanna punch my dad." Arnie took a moment as he smiled into the distance; He looked back at Henry, "When I'm working at the shop, I feel like I can be myself. Sometimes I wish you were my dad. You would be such a cool dad."

Henry smiled softly at the comment; He felt flattered to be looked up to as a father-figure, and he really did care for the kid, "I was angry when I was seventeen, too."

Arnie became interested, "What were you angry about?"

Henry reflected back to when he was seventeen, "It was a few things that happened that year. First, my brother who had been kidnapped when I was a baby, came back into my life after pretending to be a runaway for two weeks just so he could spend time with me and my family. I didn't take that very well... You know, being the only boy in the family, and then all of sudden, there's an older brother that comes back after so many years of being gone. It was just weird for me to get use to. I was also mad that I didn't have friends my whole life. I was so lucky to find my girlfriend, Winter, but I didn't have any friends other than her. Then, I was mad at my dad for a little while because he made Winter walk home by herself when there was a..."

_'Child eating clown...'_

"...Child abductor on the loose. She was missing for three days, and became very sick that she nearly died. I was mad at my dad for so long, and I guess I was mad at God about it, too." Henry took a moment to reflect, "You mentioning the car making you feel drawn to it, and that it makes you feel powerful... It reminds me of this jacket that was given to me that year. Whenever I had it on, I just felt like I was invincible and no one could mess with me. I always had my girlfriend that brought me back to reality, though, and made me realize I didn't need anything other than her to make me feel like the most powerful man in the world."

"Jesus Christ!" Arnie exclaimed, shaking his head, "And I thought my life was rough! I guess we're pretty similar then." Arnie took a moment to think how he was going to explain this next thing to Henry without sounding insane, "For the past month, I've had these dreams. It's always been of an odd-looking man telling me that I was going to find my purpose soon, and I would know it when I found it. It's crazy, but when I saw that car, I knew it connected to my dreams."

Henry looked at Arnie questionably, "Your purpose?"

Arnie nodded his head, "Yeah! The man says I'll know what I need to do within time."

Vic's voice was in Henry's memory before he found out that Pennywise needed him to kill the Losers; _"It's not time yet. We'll be back soon when you need our help, Daddy-O. Don't forget your deal with Mr. Bob Gray, Henry. We gotta burn rubber!"_

Henry watched Arnie, as he opened up to him. He wanted to know more. "Arnie, this might be a real crazy question, but do you ever see things that others don't? Like, have you ever seen a face in the moon before, or hear voices telling you to do things?"

Arnie laughed, "No!" He thought the idea was crazy.

Henry let out a small laugh, "I just wanted to be sure."

"If we're going to talk about weird things like that, though..." Arnie started with a smile, "When I was two years old, I was at Dennis' Birthday party, and there was this clown..." Arnie laughed, thinking Henry would be amused by the story, "The clown gave me this red balloon that he put in front of me, and he said that when I grab it, I'll have all his power..."

Henry's heart began to race and his palms became sweaty. Pennywise's voice as Bob Gray flashed in his memory:

_"I'm apart of you now, Henry. You have a little piece of me inside of you that will grow when you do. That balloon will always be there for you until you decide to grab it. When you take it, I will fully be a part of you. I won't just be your anger and rage, but I will be every part of you. I will drive you mad and psychotic so you can do what I need you to do. When you are ready, take the balloon."_

"It followed me for months, and I would just stare at it like crazy. That weird balloon made me think I heard voices in my head. I don't remember what they were saying, but there was definitely voices."

 _''Please, God, no! Not fucking Arnie!'_ Henry's mind screamed

"Did you take the balloon?" Henry asked, staring at him wide-eyed, but trying to remain calm.

"Yep! I eventually grabbed it!"

Henry felt light-headed and like he wanted to vomit again.

Arnie continued on, "It was the most amazing feeling when I grabbed it, too. I felt this force of energy just take me over. I've never had sex before, but I think that feeling was better than sex!" Arnie laughed, "Then when I saw that car and sat inside of her for the first time, I felt that feeling all over again. Henry, it was amazing!"

Then, it all made sense to Henry: The anger, the dreams, finding the car, feeling the power and being drawn to the car (Although, for Henry it was the jacket)... He's the next Chosen One to kill the Lucky Seven. Pennywise wants him to use the car so he can embody Its madness and anger, with the help of Vic, Belch and Ace. Henry realized that if there was a new Chosen One, then Pennywise knew the Lucky Seven weren't going to die, or kill It, when they all went into the sewers in 1997. Pennywise had already planned ahead to this very moment when It was ready to come back.

Mike was right about the shift in the energy in Derry; Pennywise was starting to wake up.

Henry felt a loss of words as he studied Arnie's innocent face, not able to understand how this good kid was Pennywise's next Chosen One to try and kill The Losers before they get a chance to kill the clown. Although, Henry didn't seem like the type that would have been chosen either, but he was, and he didn't even take the balloon when he was a toddler. Even though, during May 1997 when Henry was told by Pennywise that he needed to kill The Losers, and since he didn't take the balloon as a kid, he needed the jacket to help him fulfil his purpose.

But Arnie took the balloon! That means he has all the same madness that Ace had when he was the Chosen One, yet Arnie wasn't a bad kid at all! It made Henry wonder what was going to happen once Arnie began working on that car, and it scared the shit out of Henry to think about.

"You okay?" Arnie asked Henry because he became so quiet.

Henry blinked his eyes, trying to look like he was trying to stay awake; "Yeah! Sorry... I'm just tired from today..." Henry thought about it before he started to speak, "When I was one years old, I was left a bright red balloon by a..." He tried to choose his words carefully, "By a guy in a clown suit. He told me the same thing he told you..."

Arnie laughed excitedly, "No way!" he exclaimed, "We really are alike! So you know what I'm talking about?"

Henry scratched the side of his head and said, "I do, but not exactly. That balloon followed me for a year or so. I knew Winter when I was a toddler, and although I don't remember much about that time in my life, I remember that she was concerned about me, because I would stare at the balloon for hours and not talk to anyone. She took a fork one day and just popped it."

Henry wanted to say, but didn't, _'She saved my life that day from turning into a psychotic monster when I was seventeen. I wish I knew how to reverse this for you, Arnie. You don't deserve to suffer with all of this. You're nothing like Ace - you're more like me! Your future's going to be harder than mine was, because you took that fucking balloon! Not only will you be Pennywise's puppet when It comes back, but Vic, Ace and Belch are going to attach themselves to you like they did with me. I am so sorry, Arnie. You're not a bad kid like Ace was, so I really don't understand how this is happening right now.'_

"Oh, wow!" Arnie exclaimed. He shrugged, "You missed out on that rush from the balloon."

 _'And I don't regret it...'_ Henry thought.

"I should get going, Henry, before my parents kill me for missing curfew," Arnie sighed.

Henry nodded, "Alright, Arnie. I won't be in tomorrow since it's my day off, but have a good day at work and make sure everything is running smoothly"

Arnie smiled happily at Henry, "I will, Henry! I'll be sure to channel your boss energy!" Henry could see in his smile that he looked up to him so much. Everything Henry knew now about Arnie, that Arnie won't know about until Pennywise comes back, made Henry feel really bad for him and he didn't know what to do.

As Arnie walked in front of Henry's truck towards his house, Henry rolled down the window and called Arnie to come over; Arnie walked over to Henry.

"Arnie, don't buy that car."

Arnie rolled his eyes with a smile still on his face. Henry knew by his expression that nothing would have convinced him not to, after all, if he was the next Chosen One, he was right... It was his _'purpose'_ no matter how badly Henry didn't want to believe it. Unfortunately for Arnie, he didn't have a soulmate like Winter who could bring him back to himself when Pennywise and the three ghosts try to get him to kill Henry's friends, and maybe even Henry and Winter. In the meantime, this was still Arnie Cunningham.

"Like I said, I will sleep on it," he continued to smile at Henry.

Henry nodded, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference. Henry put his hand out the window for Arnie to give him a homie handshake. As Arnie grabbed his hand, Henry said to him very seriously, "You're a great kid, Arnie. Don't lose yourself in that car, and tell me the moment when something seems off about it. I don't care how crazy it might seem, but tell me. I'll believe you no matter what."

Arnie let out another small chuckle with a grin, "Thanks, Henry. I mean it when I say that I look up to you!"

Henry weakly smiled at him and felt so sick to his stomach. He was scared Arnie was going to lose control, and Henry didn't know how to stop it from happening.

Henry turned on his engine and was about to drive home. Before he could go, Arnie turned around quickly to look at Henry.

"His name is Bob Gray!" Arnie shouted towards Henry.

Henry sharply turned his head towards Arnie at the mention of Bob Gray, Pennywise's human form name; "What?!"

"The guy in my dreams, who tells me I will know when I find my purpose... I just remembered that his name is Bob Gray!"

Henry stared at Arnie, his mind going blank and his heart racing. He watched as Arnie waved to him one last time and then went into his house.

When Arnie was out of sight, Henry could feel his body begin to shake and go into a panic. His body was in such a panic mode that he could feel his whole-body tingling with anxiety. All he wanted was to go home to Winter, and tell her everything that had just happened, and how scared he was for one of his favourite employees, this kid he liked so much.

As Henry drove, he called Mike on his Bluetooth in his vehicle.

"Hey, Henry!" Mike greeted, "What's going on?"

"Mike, we have a problem." 


	16. Part 16: A Night In The Clubhouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm temporarily laid-off from my job, so now I get to overwhelm you all with updates! Yay for self-isolation! 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Meanwhile, while Henry was with Arnie and Dennis to check out the car that Arnie wanted to buy from Roland Criss, Eddie had met up with Winter at a coffee shop in Derry. 

After going to Bowers Mechanic Garage, Winter had spent a couple of hours sitting on a swing in an empty park, trying to collect herself from the heartbreak she had endured. She reflected on how the four years apart from Henry might have affected him, and how he was able to move on. However, she didn't want to feel like a hypocrite, since she had spent the beginning of the year in a relationship with Eddie. She knew it was a heartbreak she would never fully recover from, but if Henry had moved on, then she had to get a grip on reality and let it be, and that realization tore her heart in half. 

It was the early evening, and Eddie was guiding Winter through The Barrens. It had been really dark out in the ravine so Eddie brought a flashlight and was holding onto Winter's hand as he guided her around the trees and tried to avoid any logs on the ground. 

Eddie could sense that something was wrong with Winter as she had been very quiet during the time he picked her up at the coffee shop and guided her through The Barrens. 

As he walked a bit in front of her with her hand in his, he asked, "Are you okay? You're really quiet." 

Winter moved some hair out of her face as she continued to follow him, "Just the last time I followed someone through The Barrens at night, I was led into the sewers."

Eddie cracked a little smile as he said, "I'm the last person on this earth that would be bringing you to that disease infested place." Even though it was a valid reason why she would be quiet, Eddie knew that wasn't the reason for her quietness. He stopped walking and turned to her in the dark woods. The flashlight had lit up their faces just a little bit so they could see each other, "You know we can't do this." 

Winter blinked confused, "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, you can't keep avoiding telling me what the problem is..." he pointed out. "In high school, you would never tell me what was bothering you when you were sad. That was fine back then, because at least you still had Henry to talk to when you didn't want to talk to anyone else about what was making you upset. That's not the case anymore, and you can't hold things in, Winter. I confide in you when I'm upset, and you need to confide in me when something is bothering you because there is nobody else."

Winter looked around the forest reluctantly, "Okay, fair point." Winter let out a little sigh as she began, "I ran into Henry's little sister at the grocery store earlier today..."

Right away, Eddie's expression dropped, "Mhmm..."

"She told me that Henry is back in Derry and owns his dad's old mechanic shop. So I..." Winter looked at Eddie's face and noticed the intense stare he was giving her. He nearly looked like he was going to start panicking. "So I went over there, and I talked to one of the mechanics, and he told me that Henry was busy tonight with a date." 

Eddie's face relaxed, "Oh!" He was confused about the situation, but then he considered that maybe Henry did take his advice and started seeing other people. He tried his best to be serious and not smile as the situation mean't that it was obvious that it was time for Winter to move on.

"Yeah, so..." Winter started exhaustedly, "That really bummed me out. Now I'm just feeling numb about it all, and I don't really know how to feel about Henry anymore. My emotions are telling me that I can't let go of him, but my brain is telling me that I need to move on." She shook her head with exhaustion and confusion. 

"Hey..." Eddie weakly smiled at her as he rubbed her arms up and down, "You're an amazing, beautiful woman. Don't let anyone make you feel like you need to be confused or need to hold onto emotions that are just going to make you even more heartbroken or confused." 

Winter nodded her head and tried to smile. She wondered, knowing what she knows now about Henry moving on, if Eddie wasn't continuing his relationship with his wife, if she would be able to invest herself completely into him. But, she had to keep reminding herself that he's married. He was even wearing his wedding ring again. 

"Thanks, Edz," she weakly smiled. She stared at his face for a few seconds and admired his features. She snapped back to reality, "So... Why are we in The Barrens in the middle of the night?"

Eddie smiled and started leading her again through the darkness, "We're almost there. This is why I was a few minutes late picking you up at the coffee shop." He had stopped abruptly and looked around the area, flashing the light from the flashlight on different areas of the ground. "Just right over here..." 

Winter walked with him until he stopped again. She watched as he bent down and looked for something to pull the ground up. She smiled as the door from their old clubhouse flipped open. The only thing different was that it wasn't dark inside, there were lights on that lit up the ladder to climb down. 

"I'll go first..." Eddie said as he put his foot on the ladder and started to climb down. "I put a generator down there so we could see while we're here." 

When Eddie put his feet on the ground in the clubhouse, Winter began climbing down the ladder. When she was near the bottom, she could feel Eddie put his hands on her waist to guide her safely to the bottom. 

"Wait, wait, wait..." Eddie smiled as he put his hand over her eyes so she couldn't see anything. Winter responded by letting out a tiny laugh. He slowly turned her around, away from the ladder and took his hand away. 

Winter smiled as she looked at their childhood hang-out spot. The hammock still in the middle of the room with posters of 1980's and 1990's movies hung on the panelled walls; There was Dumb and Dumber, Back To The Future, Teen Wolf, and Batman posters everywhere. Eddie had spent time down there before picking up Winter and put up white twinkle lights, set up some dinner covered by a plate cover so no dirt could get on it, and there was even a blanket set up on the floor with a bottle of Champagne and two glasses. 

"Edz! Are you serious?!" she smiled at him. 

_'Oh, man, Edz... If you weren't working on your marriage, I'd be all over you for this...'_ Winter thought to herself as she looked around.

As the night when on with the two of them enjoying each others company in the clubhouse, they had eaten a great selection of Chinese Food that Eddie had ordered, and drank glass after glass of Champagne. A few times Eddie had mentioned what had been happening with him since he had left Winter's apartment and moved back in with his wife. 

As they continued to enjoy the night, Winter continued to try and not to think about Henry. Every time she thought about him, she could feel her heart breaking. She was coping by taking more sips of her Champagne and paying more attention to Eddie as they sat there and spoke. 

During this whole night, Winter had no idea that Henry was checking out the car at the Criss residence while all he could think about was being able to spend time with her knowing that she was living in Maine. 

"So, you're doing okay since I've left?" Eddie asked her after they spent a few minutes laughing over memories from their high school days. 

The question made Winter look down at her glass of Champagne as she reflected on the past couple of weeks. Ever since he left, she felt alone, finding herself thinking of Henry almost most of the time, her Sleep-Paralysis had come back with her finding herself opening her eyes in the middle of the night to the sight of Henry hanging himself, and her dreams of being stuck in the sewers with that older woman had all come back. 

Winter looked back at Eddie, "I've been feeling the loneliness." She sighed, "I have been thinking a lot about..." 

_'Henry...'_

"Ugh!" Winter put her thump to her third-eye and rubbed her forehead. She got up from the blanket Eddie laid on the floor to shake off the pain of finding out that Henry had moved on. Eddie stayed sitting on the blanket as he watched her. "No! I need to stop holding onto Henry!" she said more to herself than to him. 

Eddie didn't say anything as he watched her. He could tell that the Champagne had hit her and she was in a state that she needed too vent. 

As Winter continued to walk with her thumb rubbing her forehead, she kept her gaze away from Eddie, "I think that's my problem, too! I hold onto everything that hasn't gone the way I wanted it to go, and I'm killing myself because of it. If it's not Henry I'm holding onto, it's Lily and Georgie, and that was fifteen years ago!" 

Eddie tilted his head in question, "Georgie Denbrough? Bill's brother? Why would you be holding onto him?" 

Winter looked at Eddie, and she realized that she never told him the truth about Georgie, even when they were living together for those two months. She let out a little stressed out laugh as the alcohol was hitting her more. She put down her glass on the little table and continued to look at Eddie, "You said earlier that it was okay that I didn't tell you everything when we were teenagers, because I, at least, had Henry to talk to about stuff that was bothering me."

Eddie listened intently and nodded. He took another sip of Champagne, and he could feel the buzz, as well, as he listened. 

"Well, Edz, Georgie was exactly why you had to console me for three hours as I cried down here that time when we were in high school..." She remained calm as she rubbed at her eyebrow and explained, "When I was stuck in the sewers, that first night, Georgie was there. He only had one arm, but he was still alive. I tried to save him, but I couldn't. Then when I tried to look for a way out, that fucking monster took his dead body right from my arms." She looked down as she continued to try and not shed any tears, "If I couldn't save him, I, at least, wanted to get his body out of the sewers..."

Eddie pursed his lips together as she spilled her darkest secret onto him, a secret that affected the whole group of them. He stared at her, unable to understand how this beautiful woman could be so strong from such a young age. He could feel her pain, and now thinking back to that day in 1997 in the clubhouse, he could finally understand why she couldn't stop crying and why she was unable to talk about it. 

Eddie cleared his throat, "I guess you never told Bill?" 

Winter shook her head, "No... No, I never did. I just couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth." She ran her hand through her hair as she forced herself to perk back up and said, "But, I need to learn to let go! I can't save everyone, right?" 

Eddie weakly smiled at her and nodded, "That's right. The fact that you try to save everyone is what makes you so beautiful, though. Even if you can't save them, just know that the need to do so is what makes you beautiful."

Winter weakly smiled at Eddie, and in this moment, she wished he wasn't working on his marriage. Every time she thought about the times they had sex together, her eyes would go down to his wedding ring resting on his ring finger, and it brought her back to reality. 

Eddie put his glass on a little table and got up to his feet, "I know a way to make you feel better!" he smiled as he walked over to a boombox he had sitting on the floor. 

Winter watched her friend as he pressed play.

_'Now I've had the time of my life...'_

Winter bursted out in laughter as the song filled up the clubhouse softly. The flashbacks of her and Eddie working on the famous dance routine for their dance class finals came rushing back to her. She continued to laugh as the memories flooded. 

_'No, I've never felt like this before... Yes, I swear it's the truth...'_

Eddie watched her with a smile as he laughed at her reaction. 

"You realize this is our song, right?" Eddie smiled. 

As Winter composed herself, trying not to laugh, she said to Eddie, "No, Edz! It's been fifteen years, and I don't remember the choreography at all." 

"I don't either!" he laughed a bit more, "But I remember the lift part and how I couldn't do it because of my spaghetti arms." Eddie flexed his arms and smiled, "But look at these now." 

_'I've been waiting for so long..._

_Now I've finally found someone to stand by me...'_

Winter played along and stepped towards him to squeeze his bicep, "Very nice, Edz. I still don't think you can just do that lift after not practicing it for fifteen years." 

Eddie's expression went goofy with his big grin and excited look in his eyes sparkled as his eyes went wide, "Oh, yeah?! You wanna bet on that?!" 

Winter bursted out laughing at his expression, "No! No, I really don't want to bet on this!" 

Eddie stared at her with the same smile on his face.

_'So we take each others hands..._

_'Cause we seem to understand the urgency...'_

As the song was nearing the end, Winter stood on the other side of the clubhouse as she tried not to laugh, and tried not to cry at the same time as she was about to jump into Eddie's arms, and hopefully it doesn't end with them crashing to the ground. 

_'So I'll tell you something..._

_This could be love...'_

Eddie motioned her to run over to him. 

_'Because...'_

Winter began to run, and as she jumped in front of him, Eddie grabbed onto her waist and didn't do the lift. 

_'I've had the time of my life...'_

"No, I'm not doing it!" Eddie laughed. 

Winter laughed, "Edz! What?! Your guns got scared?!" she asked as she squeezed his bicep.

Eddie shook his head as he grinned, "I haven't tried the lift in fifteen years, I'm kind of drunk, and if I got hurt, it's fine because you could nurse me. If you got hurt, we both would be screwed 'cause I wouldn't know what the fuck to do!" 

Winter bursted out laughing with tears almost coming out of her eyes, "Then why did we just spend the last four minutes preparing ourselves for this?!" 

"Because of that!" Eddie pointed at her as she laughed, "I knew it would make you laugh."

Winter grinned as she shook her head at him, "Well then... Touché, Mr. Kaspbrak!" 

As they stood there, the next song on Eddie's CD had come on. It was _'Keep On Loving You'_ by REO Speedwagon 

_'You've should have seen by the look in my eyes, that there was something missing...'_

Winter laughed, "I haven't heard this song since high school."

Eddie smiled and took her hand, raised it above her head, and she did a twirl. He placed one had on her hip and kept the other one in her hand as she put her other hand on his shoulder. 

"'You should've known by the tone of my voice, but you didn't listen!'" Eddie sang with the song in a goofy, higher pitch voice to match Kevin Cronin's singing voice. 

"'You play dead, but you never bled!'" 

Winter put her index finger to his lips and laughed, "You're so drunk!" 

_'Instead you lie still in the grass all coiled up and hissing...'_

Eddie bursted out laughing, "And you're as sober as a judge!" 

Winter snorted. "You know, in high school, we did a lot of different dance routines, but we never actually danced like two normal people... Like this!" She commented as they swayed back and forth to the classic hit. 

"You call this a normal people dance routine?" he smiled, "What routine is this called? The Grade-Eight-Dance dance routine?" 

Winter bursted out in giggles, "That is exactly what this routine is called!" 

"And we are so rocking it!" he smiled at her. 

_'And I mean't every word I said when I said that I love you I mean't that I love you forever,_

_And I'm gonna keep on loving you,_

_Because it's the only thing I wanna do,_

_I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on loving you...'_

Eddie was looking deeply into Winter's eyes as they continued to dance through the chorus. Winter stared back into his brown eyes. As he continued to inch his face closer to hers for a kiss, her eyes quickly darted to his hand in hers, and she quickly remembered that he was fixing his marriage as the wedding ring on his finger reminded her. 

_'And I'm going to keep on loving you...'_

Winter quickly turned away and walked over to the other side of the clubhouse. She stood at the tac-up board with all the pictures of The Losers, Henry and her. 

As she stood there looking at the photos, Eddie quickly looked down at his wedding ring, knowing it was the reason why Winter shied away from kissing him. He rubbed the ring with the fingers on his right hand, wishing he didn't have to wear it anymore. He just wanted to make things right with her, and forget that he had an abusive wife at home. 

Eddie quickly turned off the music and looked back over at her.

"Your mom was right..." Winter said as she looked at a photo of Eddie and Winter together on her parents driveway when she was seventeen and he was fifteen. She quickly skimmed all the other photos of the group together, and she noticed that Eddie was always looking at her; "You do smile differently at me." 

She turned to look at Eddie as she grabbed her Champagne she left on the table and took a couple of sips. 

From the other side of the clubhouse, Eddie admired her lovingly. As he stared at her, he thought up a question; "Can I ask you a question? It's totally a hypothetical question."

Winter softly smiled, "Hypothetical?"

"Hypothetical!" he made clear. 

"Okay! Shoot!"

"Lets say that life never happened the way it did, okay? So, picture a life that you either never met Henry, or Henry was your boyfriend in high school and you broke up, but you just were fine with the break up... And what I mean by _'fine'_ , is that you moved on from him with no regrets..."

Winter listened interested as she took another sip of her drink. She wondered where he was going with this question. 

"And, let's say I never married Myra, she was not apart of my life... So, if these two distractions in our lives did not exist, and we were in a relationship after we bumped into each other at the hospital; If I decided, in this moment, to get down on my knee and ask you to marry me, would you say yes?" 

Winter blinked surprised at the question. She didn't think he was going to ask a hypothetical marriage proposal. 

"And, this is hypothetical? I'm completely over Henry, and you were never married?" She clarified. 

"Totally hypothetical! We are totally dumping our baggage in this hypothetical scenario. There is no baggage and no distractions."

Winter took a moment to think of her answer. It was hard for her to erase the want and love she had for Henry to answer the question. Since it was hypothetical, though, she tried her best to put herself in a world that it would have been easy to let go of Henry. She considered all her and Eddie had gone through in high school together, and all they had gone through since seeing each other again in the hospital after fourteen years. 

Eddie watched as she thought about it. He was slowly rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger as he watched her. 

Winter looked at him, "Yeah... Yeah, I would." 

Eddie continued to stare at her, his stomach filling up with butterflies; "Why?" 

"You always make me laugh... I can be myself around you... Your personality just makes me feel better when I feel shitty..." she touched her stomach as she said, "You've never made my scars burn. Any guy that looks like he's interested in me makes my scars burn, but you don't." 

Eddie scratched the side of his cheek as he listened. When she was done, he said, "I've always wanted you. I wanted you, because you're accepting of my phobias, and you've never judged me for them. You always listened when no one else would. Instead of telling me I'm broken and sick, you tell me that I'm healthy and don't have anything to worry about, that my illness' are only in my head because of my mom. You've always - _always_ \- have made me feel like a man; From the way you touch me, talk to me, look at me, and in the bedroom." 

Winter felt her own stomach fill up with butterflies, but in the back of her mind she needed to remind herself that he was a married man. He was not a married man separating from his wife anymore, he was a married man working on his marriage, and that changed everything. 

"When I was in here earlier setting up before I went to pick you up, I found something in here that I wrote..." Eddie took a couple of steps to the table beside him and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. "I didn't read it. I looked at who it was for and who wrote it. It turns out it was for you and I wrote it. I have no idea what it says, but I wrote it for you one day in the library back in 1997." 

The mention of the library made Winter smile softly, "Did you write that the day that no one is allowed to talk about?"

He stared at her for a second, "Yes... I'm not telling you anything that happened that day in the library." 

Jokingly, she said, "You know I can just turn on my Netflix and watch the rest of Richie's special to find out what happened?" 

He stared at her stone-faced and joked, "I lived with you... I know all your passwords. I'll cancel your Netflix."

Winter giggled at his reaction, "I won't watch it. I respect that you don't want me to know." She stared at him admiringly, "So, what's this letter say?" 

Eddie smiled at her and licked his lips, "Keep in mind that this is fifteen-year-old me writing to seventeen-year-old you, so I have no idea what's in it. I just know I wrote it." 

Eddie quickly unfolded the letter and started reading as Winter listened: 

_'"Hi Winter,_

_If you are reading this, that means I have died...'"_

Eddie rolled his eyes right away at his fifteen-year-old dramatic personality. Winter bursted out laughing. 

Winter laughed for nearly a minute, and then she said, "I don't know if that beginning was what made it funny, or how you read it out-loud and totally realized that it sounds so dramatic." 

Eddie began to chuckle, "Oh, my God... I think Richie's right about me being dramatic as a kid." 

Winter calmed down her laugh and smiled at him, "I wanna know what it says." 

Eddie cleared his throat and began reading:

_"'I just got back from visiting you at the hospital. You told me not to risk my life by going into the sewers. When you told me that, you held onto my hand so I would listen to you and take you seriously._

_"'I have never felt so cared for before in my life. I know my mom cares about me, but she doesn't care about me like you do. I don't think anyone cares about me like you do...'"_

Winter felt like she was going to fall through the floor hearing Eddie talk about his actual feelings for her, since it was something he never opened up about too often. She had to remind herself after that he was a married man. 

Eddie continued on looking nervous as he continued to read. He must not have known how deep the letter was:

_"'I know that you see me as a little fifteen-year-old kid, and knowing that you see me like that hurts me sometimes. You make me feel like a man, and I really want you to see me as a man. I know you see Henry as a man, since he knows what to do to keep you safe, even if that means taking a bullet for you. I want you to know, though, that if you ever need me to take a bullet for you or just to be there for you, I will be there and I will take that bullet._

_"'Just so you know how much I care about you and want to be around you, I want you to know something that you might find surprising. I actually really hate dancing. I don't like it at all even though I spend hours dancing with you each week. I do it, because in those few hours, I can make you laugh, smile, and you always end up opening up to me about things._

_"'There's also something about you that makes me not care if I get dirty or sick._ _I don't know if you were aware, but I walked with you - right beside you - to the ambulance that day you were found. I didn't care if you made me sick. I know there must be something major about you - about us - that I don't fear illness or becoming dirty when I'm with you._

_"'I just wanted to write this all down because I don't know how to talk about it. I don't want to say anything either because I know you love Henry, and I respect that. I don't know what the feeling is when I'm around you... I've never felt it before. Is this what love feels like? Is this the same feeling you get when you're with Henry? I don't know and I'm too scared to ask._

_"'You'll probably never read this. I just needed to write it all down._

_"'Your friend, Eddie Kaspbrak, AKA Your Edz'"_

Eddie slowly folded the letter back up and looked over at Winter. He looked nervous, and Winter could see in his eyes that everything he put down on that paper fifteen years ago was locked up and hidden for so long in his heart. 

"Um..." Eddie rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he was lost for words. He was so taken back that he poured his whole heart onto her and she might have brushed it off, "So... um... that was from me to you." 

As Winter continued to stare at him, shocked due to how deep his feelings went and noticing how nervous he was, she could feel something new inside of herself opening up for him. As this new feeling was blossoming, she continued to repeat in her head...

_'He's a married man... He's a married man... He's a married man...'_

A few minutes had passed, and Eddie had pushed Winter against the wood panels in the clubhouse and kissed her passionately as she had her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms locked around his shoulders. They had both stripped off their pants and underwear beforehand. 

Eddie immediately entered her pussy while he had her pushed against the unstable wall. 

Winter moaned as Eddie put his mouth to her cheek and breathed on her skin in pleasure. It felt so good for the both of them. 

Eddie supported her back to the blanket on the ground as he kept his cock inside of her. He laid her down on the thick fabric and he continued to push in and out of her as hard as he could as she moaned loudly.

They both didn't care anymore. Winter didn't care that she was heartbroken that Henry moved on, and Eddie didn't care that he was married. He was going to make things right when the time felt right, and Winter was going to keep trying to move on as she believed that her soulmate had already moved on. 


	17. Part 17: Six Days Before Pennywise's Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter and Henry will be reunited soon, and The Losers will be all together again!! Next chapter will be the start of everything <3 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**  
  
Monday May 21, 2012 (Six Days Before Pennywise's Return)**

It was seven in the evening as Henry sat at the Customer Service Desk at work. He was supposed to be going through his invoices and counting up the money made for the day, but he was distracted as he was going through his laptop and looking at all the old pictures he had in his home of him and Winter dated as early as 1997 that he scanned to his computer. 

"Where are you?" Henry said sadly into his hand as it rested against his face. 

Henry heard the side door of the building open. As he was the only one left in the building, he immediately turned to look to see who came in the business. 

It was Arnie. 

Arnie was looking different lately; he had ditched his thick-rimmed glasses for contact lenses, he looked exhausted, and his facial expression always made him look like he was on-edge. Henry had told Arnie when he decided to buy the car that he didn't want to see Arnie working on it at his business, and suggested that he took the car to Darrell's Garage where he could work on it himself. 

"Hey, Henry!" Arnie said, sounding stressed out. 

"Hey, man..." Henry said to him. Henry was watching Arnie very closely lately and noting if his behaviour was changing. It seemed to Henry like he was changing; He looked like he was ready to snap at anybody, just like Henry was when Pennywise was beginning to wake up when he was seventeen. He was able to compose himself at work, though, and that was important to Henry as his boss, "What are you doing back?"

"I forgot my power cables!" he yelled over as he went over to the station he was working at earlier that day. "Here they are!" 

"Cool!" Henry yelled back exhaustedly as he continued to skim through photos. 

Arnie walked over to Henry as he sat there. "You look tired," he observed. 

Henry looked at Arnie and he noticed his hair gelled back and his red sleeveless jacket. He was giving off the greaser look. "How are you doing?" 

"Fucking exhausted all the time..." he began, "Fucking parents are up my ass all of the time now over my car!" 

It wasn't like Arnie to curse and come off so edgy. Henry could see in Arnie's eyes that he was full of anger. Anger that was going to explode out of him soon, and he wanted to figure out what he could do to make Arnie stop from changing. 

Henry thought about stealing his car and rolling it into the lake, but he didn't know how powerful Ace, Belch and Vic could be. He was scared that the car would just drive out from the lake and try to kill Henry, or the three of them could attach themselves to Henry again. In the meantime, both him and Mike thought the best thing to do was to observe Arnie's changing behaviour and for Henry to stay on his good side. 

"How is the car?" Henry asked. 

Arnie's face lit up to the question, "She's beautiful! If I keep putting the same work into her that I've been doing all month, I'll have her road safe by the weekend." 

Henry felt a shiver go through his spine. He looked at him questionably, "How? That car would take about a year or more to get it back to its original form." 

Arnie grinned at Henry and his eyes were so wide that they looked psychotic, like they were bulging from his head, "I told you, Henry. I'm good with cars. I know how to get it done." 

Henry noticed that his eyes were similar, but definitely different, from his own eyes when he was in high school and Pennywise was coming back. Henry remembered he looked angry, but Arnie looked like he was about to have a psychotic breakdown. This was a kid who took all of what Pennywise offered him as a baby; All of Its madness. 

Henry slowly nodded at Arnie as he closely watched him, "Good for you, man..." he said unsurely. 

"I want you to see what I did to her, Henry," he said, referring to the car. "They want to see you again." 

Henry remained calm trying to look unbothered by him, however his blood began to boil with fear, "Who wants to see me, Arnie?"

Arnie laughed under his breath, "You know what I'm talking about." 

Henry calmly sat up to a straight position and said, "They're not your friends, Arnie. They will manipulate you until they're fully inside of your head. Don't let them have you." 

Arnie said, "They're just looking out for me, Henry. I told them that you and I are like brothers and that I respect you. They don't want to hurt you, they just want to talk to you." 

_'Sure they do...'_ Henry thought to himself. 

"Whatever it is that keeps you grounded to your real life, make that your number one priority, or else those guys will try to eat you alive."

_'Like I had Winter to keep me grounded.'_

Arnie let out a pathetic chuckle, "I don't have anything like that, Henry. All I have is that car." 

Henry stared at him with sadness in his eyes for the guy. He knew he was right. Arnie wasn't lucky like Henry was at seventeen to find someone that kept his feet on the ground. 

"Hey, listen..." Arnie began after a few moments of silence, "I need to take off, but I'll be in tomorrow after school." 

Henry nodded slowly and spoke cautiously, "I always liked you, Arnie. Don't bring those guys to work with you." 

Arnie smiled, "They stay with the car, boss. They don't come with me outside of the car." 

_'For now they don't...'_ Henry thought, _'How the fuck do I fix this?'_

As Arnie walked through the room to exit from where he came in, Mike had walked in. 

Mike looked quickly at Arnie, but Arnie stopped walking and stared down at Mike with the same psychotic look in his eyes. 

As Henry watched Arnie looking at Mike as he walked from the door towards Henry, Henry knew that the voices in Arnie's head were telling him the same thing that they told Henry that day in the hospital when Ben, Bev, Eddie, Bill, Stan and Richie went to visit Winter; They were telling him why he needed to kill Mike for Pennywise. 

Henry continued to keep his eyes on Arnie as he continued to stare at Mike as he passed him and walked over to Henry. 

"Hey, Henry!" Mike smiled, not realizing that Arnie was staring him down like a lion finding his dinner. 

"Hey..." Henry greeted back as he continued to watch Arnie. "You okay, Arnie?"

Arnie snapped out of his gaze and quickly put his hand to his forehead, as if he realized he had lost time. He looked towards the door, and before he walked out, he shouted to Henry, "See you tomorrow, boss!" 

"That was Arnie Cunningham? The Chosen One to kill us?" Mike asked in disbelief. He, himself, couldn't believe that such a small seventeen year old was chosen to murder seven adults, which may or may not include Henry and Winter. 

Henry looked at Mike seriously, "Ace, Belch, Vic, and maybe Pennywise, are infecting him quickly like a virus. He looked at you like you were his next meal." 

"Seriously?!" Mike asked, "Why wouldn't he have just killed me right here?" 

"To be brutally honest, I don't remember wanting to actually kill you guys until Pennywise was back and giving me orders. The three others were just there to prepare me and motivate me. That, or he really wants to keep his job..." Henry thought for a moment as something came to mind, "One time, Darrell gave me the passwords to enter his security system, because he was robbed and the robbers took his computer. He had came over here and gave me all his information so I could hack into his security cameras to see who the thief was." 

As Henry turned towards the work computer at the Customer Service Desk, Mike asked, "Why do you want to see what's happening at Darrell's?" 

Henry signed out of his own security system and successfully signed into the security system at Darnell's Garage; "I need to see the progress on Arnie's - or Vic's - car." 

Henry switched over to the security camera that was facing all of the cars in their stations. there were some people working on their own cars, but he only cared to see the '58 Plymouth Fury. 

Mike watched from the other side of the desk as Henry tilted the screen so they could both see what was going on. Henry zoomed up to the 1958 Plymouth Fury. Arnie's restoration on the car was perfect; The red paint was pristine, all the 1958 car parts needed to restore the car to its finest were attached to the vehicle, and the car looked like it was straight from the conveyer-belt. 

"I thought you said the car was a piece of shit?" Mike exclaimed, feeling his fear rise as he looked at the car. "How can anyone turn a piece of shit into that in three weeks?"

"There's no fucking possible way..." Henry said more to himself than to Mike. "What he has done on that car is impossible." 

Henry needed answers. He proceeded to rewind the security footage to two days ago. In this footage, he could see that the front window had a huge crack down the middle of it, which wasn't there in the live camera footage. 

Henry pointed at the windshield, "You see that large crack? It's not there anymore. It doesn't look like a different windshield either, so Arnie would have had to fixed it himself."

As they watched Arnie walk around his car in the early evening, admiring it like Henry would admire Winter in high school, they noticed that it was hours that Arnie was just walking around the car. Henry fast-warded to a few hours later, getting through the footage of Arnie just feeling the car with his finger-tips. 

It was 3:00AM the next day that they were watching. Arnie was now sitting in the drivers side of the car, looking like he was talking to himself - or to Vic, Ace and Belch - and rubbing at the cars steering wheel. 

"He's not doing anything with the car..." Mike observed. 

Henry scratched his bristly cheek as he watched in confusion. As he watched, he noticed something; "No fucking way!" he said. 

"What?!" 

Henry zoomed up to the car as Arnie sat inside, zooming right up to the windshield. The crack on the windshield was slowly disappearing from the bottom up. 

Henry and Mike watched intently at the footage as they witnessed the cracked window repairing itself like magic. 

"He's not doing anything with the car..." Mike said.

Henry rubbed his hand on his head and said, "The car is fixing itself while he sits in it. The car is eating him alive." 

As Mike and Henry found out the truth about what was happening with Vic's car, they became terrified. 

Meanwhile, in Castle Rock, Winter was sitting on her sofa as she was studying one of her reading materials for school. She was studying how to stitch a patient up internally, whether it be a small tissue or a major organ. On Wednesday, she would need to go to the school and practice in the clinical side of the campus on a dummy to pass her clinic test. 

She grabbed her bookmark, which was a photo she took from the clubhouse of her and Henry when they were seventeen. She took it the morning when her and Eddie woke up after having sex all night. Before she closed the book, she looked at the photo and ran her fingers down Henry, who was holding her from behind with his chin resting on her bare shoulder as they laughed at whatever was so funny that day.

Winter scratched her eyebrow as the realization hit her that she was never going to be over Henry; "God, you're pathetic..." she said to herself. 

The front door opened. Eddie walked into her basement apartment. 

Winter hadn't seen him for a week and she forgot that he still had the key to the place. 

"Hey!" he smiled at her. 

"Hey!" she weakly smiled back. 

Eddie looked over at her and noticed how tired she looked; "Been studying all day?" 

Winter closed the book and put it on her lap, "Yep!" she softly smiled at him, "If you ever need someone to stop internal bleeding or stitch you up internally, just holla at your girl!" she joked. 

Eddie let out a small laugh as he sat down at the other side of the sofa, "That's good to know. It's somewhat reassuring."

Winter looked at her clock on the wall, reading 9PM, "Why are you here so late? Won't the Mrs. wonder where you are?" she asked with a bit of a tone. 

Eddie caught the tone in her voice, "I haven't seen you for a week. I wanted to see you." 

_'Or you just wanted to get your dick wet from your high school crush, your side-chick, AKA your mistress...'_ Winter thought as she let out a half smile, rolled her eyes and looked at the other side of the room. 

"What was up with that look?" Eddie asked. 

Winter looked at him for a couple of seconds before answering; "I really felt something strong between us after our date in the clubhouse..."

"Yeah, I did, too..." Eddie said as he scooted closer to her and interlocked his fingers in-between hers and looked into her eyes. 

"It's just, that was three weeks ago. For three weeks now you keep reminding me that you're going to talk to Myra, break it off with Myra, separate from Myra, and that you're looking for a lawyer to fight against Myra..." she looked at Eddie as he rubbed exhaustedly at his eyebrows, "You text me about this stuff all day, and you call me about it, but all I hear is you talking about doing something to leave Myra, yet I see on Facebook that you and her went to your fancy work party last night looking like you both were having the time of your lives."

"Winter, I need to pretend everything is all right when I'm at those work parties so no one assumes that my marriage is going down the shitter," he sighed. "If I could, it would be you that I was taking to those parties." 

"Why are you so scared to let people know that your marriage is over?" she asked, "I'm starting to think that you're lying to the both of us. How do I really know if everything you say about how horrible she is to you is true when I see stuff like that? To me, and probably everyone around you, you guys looked pretty friggin' happy! Like, does she even know that you're unhappy?"

Eddie decided not to answer, he rested his elbow on the cushion of the sofa and rubbed at his forehead. "I'm not lying to you, Winter. I have not lied to you once!" 

In the back of his head, he knew he lied when she asked him if he had ever seen her in high school having sex with Henry on the picnic table, and he remembered that he never told her about going out for coffee with Henry... But, that wouldn't be lying, he just never told her about it. 

Winter took a moment to think before she said, "I just don't like this double-life bullshit that you have going on. There's this woman in these photos, who happens to be your wife, that looks at you like you're her world, Edz! Do you know how fucking shitty I feel looking at those photos of her knowing that I'm fucking her husband behind her back? If I were her, and... and..." She shut her mouth. 

"No! I want to hear what you got to say!" Eddie snapped back, " _'And',_ what? If that was you, and if it were _Henry_ that was going behind your back..." he gritted his teeth, "That's what you wanted to say, right? Everything is still about Henry?" 

Winter shook her head as she rolled her eyes. 

"Winter, Henry moved on!" he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, "I hope you realized that Henry did this to you, too..." he pointed at her scars on her chest and shoulder. "Knowing that he hurt you should _make_ you want to move on!" 

"Oh, fuck you, Edz!" Winter snapped as she got up from the sofa. "You know what happened that night! I bared my soul out to you about what happened that night! He was throwing the bottle at Ace!" 

"He was drunk, Winter! He didn't know who he was throwing the bottle at!" 

_'Shut up, Eddie!'_ Eddie thought to himself after saying that, _'You know from Henry, too, that what they're both saying is the truth! Just shut up!'_

Winter stared at him in disbelief before dropping her book loudly on the coffee table and walking towards the bathroom. 

"Winter!" Eddie called light-heartedly, "I didn't mean that! Let's just talk!" 

Winter went into the washroom and looked in the mirror at her scars. She rubbed her thumb over the biggest one. Her flower tattoo didn't really cover the scars the way she wanted them to. 

She closed her eyes tightly and exhaled. Winter knew she was only still upset that Henry had moved on and that Eddie hadn't moved forward with his separation. She reminded herself that everything was going to be fine. 

She walked back out into her kitchen and looked over to Eddie who was still sitting on the sofa, looking over at her anxiously and guilty. Still feeling upset, she tried not to make eye-contact. 

"I was thinking of ordering a pizza. Do you want in on it?" Winter asked as she grabbed her phone.

Eddie nodded, "Yeah, I'll take some pizza." Eddie watched Winter as she silently skimmed through her phone for the pizza places near her area for delivery. He got up from the sofa and went over to her as he was feeling like she was definitely upset. "I didn't mean what I said, okay? I shouldn't have even said it. I'm sorry." he said sincerely as he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her into a hug. 

Winter responded to it and wrapped her arms around his shoulder. "It seems like we've been arguing so much since we started seeing each other again. I don't know how to accept being the other woman in your life. It's harder to accept than you think. I get jealous of your wife, but it's your wife, so I know she has way more importance in your life than I do. When are you going to tell her it's over, Edz?" Winter said into his shoulder. 

Eddie pursed his lips, "I'll make things right soon. I promise I will. Please don't call yourself the other woman, you are the most important woman in my life, and I really want you to know it." 

"Are you guys having sex?"

Eddie shook his head, "We barely did during our marriage, and we haven't tried at all since getting back together." Eddie looked at Winter's sad expression and said, "And those pictures of last night at the banquet on Facebook, the way she was looking at me, it's all an act that she's putting on, too. You've heard how we talk to each other over the phone, and you know that the way we speak to each other is not from a place of love. In front of people, we're just acting. With my status profile, I need to wear a happy face. I can't show people how miserable I am. I am so sorry those pictures hurt you, Winter." Winter softly smiled and nodded. "I'll make things right." 

Eddie and Winter softly kissed each other. Eddie threw her up on the kitchen island where they proceeded to have sex before ordering a pizza. 


	18. Part 18: To Love You More (The Turtle Awakes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter made me cry writing it. I'm not crying - you're crying!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**  
  
Sunday May 27, 2012 (The Day The Turtle & Pennywise Awakes) **

Winter slid on her silver tank top with _'Maine'_ written on the front in red accompanied by her black tight leather jacket and wearing her new dark blue denim skinny jeans with her chunky two-inch heeled boots. 

Earlier that day, as Winter was studying for her end of the year exams on her sofa, she received a surprise call from Eddie. 

**(Earlier that day)**

_"Hello?" Winter answered her phone._

_"Hey there, Cute-Stuff!" Eddie exclaimed happily in his company limo. "Guess who I drove today?"_

_"Hmm... Richie Tozier? Bill Denbrough?" She wondered who else had a high profile out of their friend group; "Ben or Bev?"_

_Eddie laughed lightly, "It's someone you've met, but none of our old friends."_

_Winter tried to think but no names were coming to mind; "I suppose I've met a lot of famous people since moving to Castle Rock. I give up. Who was it?"_

_As Eddie made a turn, he continued, "First off; Are you working tonight?"_

_"Nope! Just studying. I have to work tomorrow in Derry, but I'm free tonight. Were you thinking of coming over?"_

_'To fuck and then go home to your crappy marriage?'_ _Winter thought to herself._

_"Well..." Eddie grinned, "You know how they were building that concert arena in Derry, right?" He didn't wait for her to answer as he proceeded on, "They're finally opening tonight, and I, Eddie Kaspbrak, had the pleasure of driving the main event tonight to her hotel."_

_"Ooo..." Winter smirked, "This sounds intriguing."_

_"It was Celine Dion!" Eddie smiled._

_Winter laughed lightly, "No way! Did she recognize you from Tom Hank's party in January?"_

_"Yeah, she did! I mean, I did have to remind her who I was, and then once I said your name, she remembered right away." Eddie parked his car at his Derry business address as he continued, "She gave me two tickets, and told me to 'Bring the Winter Storm' with me!" he tried to say with a French-Canadian accent._

_"Is that my superhero name?" Winter smiled._

_"If Celine Dion says it is then I guess it is!" he smiled. "So, can you be ready by 6PM? The show starts at 8:30, and it will take about an hour, to an hour and a half, to drive from Castle Rock to Derry if I take the highway."_

_"Wait a minute... I never said I was going..." she teased._

_Eddie threw his head back in his car, "R-R-Really?" he stuttered._

_Winter giggled, "Calm down, Bill. I was joking."_

_Eddie rolled his eyes and grinned, "You're terrible."_

_"Is that why you always come by twice or three times a week at most to see me? Because I'm terrible?" she joked._

_Eddie shook his head as he smiled, "Be ready by six."_

_"Yes, Mr. Kaspbrak!"_

Winter placed her 'W' necklace around her neck and checked out her hair and makeup job she did as she checked herself up and down in the mirror. She felt satisfied with the job she did for her concert outing with Eddie. 

When she heard her front door open, she knew it was Eddie. 

As Winter and Eddie left on their drive to Derry, Henry sat at the Customer Service Desk alone at his business. As the company closed early on Sunday's, he was left by himself in his locked up building to deal with the paperwork he should have dealt with on Friday before he left for the weekend. Other things took over his time, like thinking about Arnie driving around in that death car that weekend, and trying to locate Winter over Facebook. He had tried months prior to try and find Winter on Facebook, but she didn't seem to have an account that he could find. Now that he knew she lived somewhere in Maine, he thought he would try just looking in the state. 

But, since he decided to procrastinate on his business, he was cooped up inside working on employees paystubs late that Sunday night. It wasn't too bad, though. As he was working in the silence, he had the company television that was mounted on the wall playing the Chicago Cubs versus The Toronto Blue Jays baseball game from earlier that day on. 

As he was focused on his work, he picked up a call from Mike.

"Hey, man!" Henry greeted. 

"Hey! Have you read the paper or seen the news today?" Mike asked.

"No... What's up?" 

Mike sighed, "You might want to be careful on the roads. There's been deaths this weekend." 

Henry looked towards the wall as his heart began to race, "It's back?" 

"I don't think it's Pennywise, yet. I think your employee, Arnie, has the car on the road. There have been deaths by a car running over some of the high school bullies from Derry High..." 

Arnie's voice went through Henry's memory as he remembered talking to him in his truck: _"I feel like I'm always raging out on my parents and there's some kids at school who pick on me like crazy, so I've really felt like shit this month."_

Henry listened as he twirled his pen in-between his fingers anxiously as Mike continued, "Darrell's also been killed. A car ran right through his house and ran over him in his living room." 

"Darrell?!" Henry nearly choked on his own spit, "Darrell from Darrell's Garage is dead?" 

"Yeah," Mike sighed, "I just wanted you to know so you could be on the lookout and stay safe." 

"Thanks, man." Henry quickly turned around towards his office when he heard his turtle tapping at the aquarium. "What are you doing tonight?" He asked as he walked into his office to check up on the turtle, who looked like he was more alert than ever before. 

"Probably relax and watch that Celine Dion concert. They're going to be broadcasting it live to everyone in Maine. Apparently Maine getting a concert arena is a big deal," he laughed lightly. 

As Henry listened, he watched the turtle, "I didn't realize it was opening night."

"Are you going to be watching?" 

Henry chuckled, "You're asking the guy who wore Metallica, Def Leppard, and Ozzy shirts all the time in high school if I'm going to be watching the Celine Dion concert?" 

Mike laughed, "I figured that since it use to be some of the songs your uncle would get Winter to sing at that concert, that you would want to watch." 

"It's different when it's Winter singing Celine Dion songs. I would definitely watch that. Celine Dion singing Celine Dion songs, though..." Henry laughed lightly. "Anyway, enjoy the concert. Call me if anything else weird starts happening."

"Same goes to you, Henry."

"Well, right now I have my eye on my turtle. He seems to be a bit more active, but I'll let you know if anything seems abnormal." 

Henry got off of the phone with Mike, grabbed the turtles aquarium and moved him to the Customer Service Desk so Henry could keep an eye on him while he worked on the payroll. 

Eddie and Winter had very good seats, right at the side of the stage. As they waited for the show to start, Eddie said to her; "You see all those cameras?"

Winter nodded.

"This is being broadcasted to all of Maine, since it's our first concert venue ever!" he yelled over everyone talking. 

Winter asked seriously, "Aren't you nervous if Myra will see you on TV with me as your date at the concert?" 

Eddie, feeling confident, grabbed Winter's hand and said, "If she does, then she does! That will give her more than enough reason to finally let the marriage go!" 

He knew in the back of his mind that she wouldn't be able to pin-point him out in the huge crowd anyway.

Winter softly smiled at him as she looked down at her hand in his in public. Eddie hadn't held her hand in public since his and Myra's separation. 

He even decided to be more risky and kissed her in the crowd. 

When they separated, he said, "You're not my side-chick, okay?" he softly smiled at her. 

Winter continued to softly smile and nodded. Even though his words were sweet, she still felt horrible for going behind his wife's back as she sat at home, thinking Eddie was working late in Derry. 

The lights went dark in the arena and music began to play. 

Meanwhile, in a hotel room in Hollywood, California, Bill Denbrough sat peacefully on his bed with his laptop open as he tried to continue writing the next movie that his wife, actress Audea Phillips, was staring in. As he sat there quietly in his own writers block, his wife was on set at Warner Brothers. 

In Beverly Hills, California, Richie Tozier was sitting in his mansion having drinks with his agent as they talked about material Richie could use on his U.S. Tour that started the following day. As they talked over whiskey and cigarettes, they were watching Richie's Netflix Special, trying to figure out what material he could continue to use during his upcoming gigs. 

In Atlanta, Georgia, Stan Uris sat with his wife, Patricia Uris, as they peacefully were trying to solve the puzzle they were working on for over a week together as they enjoyed a glass of wine together. As they tried to solve the puzzle, while talking about good ideas for upcoming trips, they were watching a rerun of a Seinfeld episode. 

In Chicago, Illinois, Beverly Rogan, previously known as Beverly Marsh, sat with her husband, Tom Rogan, in their living room. They silently sat there together as Bev looked through the draft of her fashion-line catalog and Tom watched the newest episode of Rookie Blue. 

In Upstate, New York, Ben Hanscom was sitting in his business, Hanscom Architecture, looking over a design model he had built for the up-and-coming banquet hall in Tokyo, Japan. As he sat there, examining the details of the model, he was watching The New York City news. 

In Derry, Maine, Mike sat in his apartment in the Derry Public Library with his radio on that was catching the signal to the Derry Police Station. He had turned on the Maine Channel, which only the state of Maine received, and began watching the Celine Dion concert with a bag of Lays Potato Chips. 

It was an hour and half into the concert, and Celine had covered nearly her whole set-list. 

Eddie and Winter continued to watch the concert live in their spots that were very close to the stage. They were enjoying the concert, as well as all the other people from Maine who had driven from all across the state, and those who came from out-of-state, to see the legendary Celine Dion perform. 

The stadium was fit for 20,000 people, and it looked like most, if not all, the stadium was packed to its full capacity. Celine Dion was able to captivate and hold the entire audience, and they were going nuts over her. 

_**"Don't give up on your faith...** _

_**Love comes to those who believe it...** _

_**And that's the way it is!"** _

The song ended with a roaring of applause from the audience. 

Celine stood there with her arm up in the air as her diamond-embroidered white dress sparkled from the lights hitting her. Small beats of sweat could be seen glimmering on her face, but her makeup and hair held and she looked like the huge starlit that she was. 

As Henry sat at his desk, finishing up the payroll from the week prior, he kept looking over at his turtle who would knock on the glass towards him. 

"What's up, buddy?" Henry said to the turtle, as he wondered if this was the sign of the clown waking up.

 _"And look at that curve-ball throw from Chris Rusin of The Cubs!"_ the announcer exclaimed on the television. 

Henry looked up towards his television to watch the hit that could have landed the Toronto Blue Jays a home-run. 

As he continued to watch, the channel changed on its own to the Celine Dion concert. 

_"While we are all here, all together during this wonderful time in Derry, Maine, I want to take a moment to speak to you all... To all my loyal fans..."_ Celine said to her roaring audience. 

Henry looked from the television to the remote; "What the Hell?" he said. 

He took the remote and hit the _'last'_ button so the game would be playing on the television again.

_"It's a home-run for The Toronto Blue Jays!"_

As he put his attention back on his paperwork, the channel changed again back to the concert. 

Henry looked back at the television confused that it kept changing on its own. "Okay, I guess I'm watching this..." he mumbled to himself, and went back to his paperwork as he listened. 

Eddie and Winter continued to watch Celine in their spots, listening to what she had to say to everyone. 

"I'm going to do something tonight that I've never done before..." she said with her French-Canadian accent. The audience quieted down so she could go on; "Throughout the years, we have seen influential performers introduce the world to some of the most current famous performers... Sarah Brightman introduced Josh Groban..." The audience applauded at the mention of the famous names in classical pop music; "Shania Twain introduced Avril Lavigne, and the list goes on and on..."

As Winter listened from her spot in the audience, her scars began to burn as she realized what Celine Dion was doing; _'No... NO! NO!'_ her mind screamed as her stomach filled up with anxiety more than it ever did in her life. 

Eddie nervously looked over at Winter, realizing what was about to happen. 

"But, tonight my fans, I'm going to introduce you to a young woman from Maine that I had the pleasure of listening to a few times, and I wouldn't bring anyone on stage to sing one of my songs if I didn't think they were vocally qualified enough..." Celine smiled as she looked in the audience. "Tonight, I introduce you to..."

_"Winter Callaghan!"_

Henry's head immediately darted up towards the television at the mention of the love of his life's name. His eyes went wide and he wondered if he was imagining hearing her name.

As he anxiously waited for Winter to show up on the screen, they filmed Celine as she went over to the orchestra in the back of her to talk to them privately.

He turned up the volume and continued to watch.

"Did she really say Winter Callaghan?" Henry asked himself. 

Winter looked anxiously at Eddie as her scars burned on her stomach. She could feel herself about to have a nervous breakdown as the audience continued to cheer as Celine went over to talk to the orchestra.

"I can't do this, Edz! How come no one talked to me first?! I can't do this!" she exclaimed with her eyes wide with tears building up from her nerves. 

"Winter, I swear to God I didn't know she was going to do this!" Which was true, he had no idea Celine was going to call Winter on stage. "But, out of everyone I know, I know you can do this! I'll be right here! If you get cold feet, just remember that I'm right here! Remember at the Christmas Concert, we stared at each other for a while before we could look out at the audience? It's just like that, just more people, but if you need to look at me or remember that I'm here with you, I'm right here! You know you can do this!" 

As Winter listened and breathed deeply, she nodded. 

A security guard, knowing where they were sitting as Celine had planned this event the moment she gave Eddie the free tickets, tapped Winter on the shoulder to follow him to the stage. 

Winter turned towards the guard and followed him to the side of the stage where she nervously walked up the stairs on her own and walked out towards the bright lights of the stage. 

The audiences applause and excited screams made her stomach hurt more, making her feel like all of Maine was trying to get her claws into her. She kept her hand pressured on her stomach as she walked over towards Celine and nervously looked out to the audience and glimpsed at the cameras broadcasting the event live. She couldn't even see where Eddie was anymore as the audience was in darkness and the lights were hitting her face.

Henry sat on the edge of his seat while Winter walked onto the stage. His stomach filled up with butterflies and his heart was pounding. 

"Oh, my God!" he exclaimed as he put his hand to his mouth in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was beautiful in her outfit, and she looked the same as she did when he last saw her in person, but even more beautiful. He watched her as she walked over to Celine nervously and noticed her hand pressured against her stomach, "Her scars are hurting her..." he said to himself, knowing that her scars would hurt when she felt like people wanted a piece of her. He continued to watch and just wanted to take the pain away. 

Henry's cell phone rang and he knew right away it was Mike who was just as surprised and shocked as Henry was to see Winter walking on the stage at the Celine Dion concert. 

Henry never took his eyes off of Winter as he answered the phone, "I'm watching it!" 

"You're watching it?"

"Yeah! I'll call you after!" Henry hung up the phone and continued to watch Winter. He noticed the W necklace around her neck, and he softly smiled, feeling the tears building behind his eyes. He was happy that she still wore the necklace. He felt like there was still hope that she still loved him. 

Celine smiled at Winter and gave her a hug. Without the microphone to catch the conversation, Celine grabbed her hand gently and asked her, putting her lips close to Winter's ear so she could hear her over the screams, "Which songs of mine do you know that you could perform by yourself?" 

Winter, still nervous and her scars burning like they were on fire, said into her ear, "I sang _'It's All Coming Back To Me Now'_ and _'To Love You More'_ in high school..."

Knowing that Eddie was the only pair of eyes watching her in the audience that didn't want to wrap his claws in her, made her scars burn less, but only if she kept reminding herself that he was there watching her. She didn't know how she was going to keep reminding herself this while she was performing, otherwise, she felt like she could have crippled up on the floor in pain, and she was scared that was going to happen. Only one pair of eyes out of the 20,000 people watching her live didn't want a piece of her. 

As Eddie watched from the audience, he had his hands balled up underneath his chin, nervous for Winter as she looked like she was in pain. "You can do it. You can do it. You can do it." He kept repeating over and over again as he watched her, trying to send her as much strength as he could. 

Henry continued to watch her from his television, unable to blink or take his eyes off of her as he anxiously waited for what was going to happen next as Winter and Celine had their private conversation on the stage. He could see how nervous and in pain she was, and he just wished he could have held her. 

Mike watched anxiously, as well, from his home, wanting to hear Winter sing for the first time since he first heard her in high school.

Celine said into Winter's ear, "The fans will want me to sing _'It's All Coming Back To Me',_ but you can sing _'To Love You More',_ okay? Here..." she took an earpiece and put it around and in Winter's ear. 

Winter nodded as Celine went back over to the orchestra to talk to them again, leaving Winter standing there, facing the orchestra waiting to hear her instructions. 

The pain in her stomach felt like she could have collapsed. She quickly took her hand away from her stomach, and looked down at her hand, which had some blood on it. She quickly turned away from the audience so her back was facing them, and she reminded herself over and over in her head, _'It's okay... It'a okay... Edz is watching, Edz is watching, Edz is watching... Forget everyone else is watching...'_

As Henry continued to watch, the turtle hit the glass of his tank so hard that it broke Henry's attention from the television.

"SHIT!" he jumped at the loud clanking sound. 

The turtle was glowing a white light and hit the glass of the aquarium eight times. 

First hit on the tank, Bill Denbrough's television in his empty hotel room in Hollywood, California turned on. Bill looked surprised at the television turning on by itself. Right away, he recognized his friend from high school on the television standing in front of Celine Dion. 

"NO WAY!" he exclaimed at the television. He put his laptop to the side of the bed and sat at the edge of his bed. 

The second hit on the tank, Richie Tozier's television in Beverly Hills, California had switched from his Netflix Special to the Derry, Maine channel.

"What the fuck happened?!" Richie exclaimed as he watched the television with his agent. "Derry?! Hey..." the camera view went from the audience to Winter's face, "Hey! That's my friend from high school! That's Winter!" 

"Which one was that?" his agent asked as he watched. 

"The one from my bit about the picnic table!" Richie exclaimed excitedly, pouring himself some more whiskey. He stood on his sofa, excited to see what Winter was going to do on stage, "YOU GO, BEAUTIFUL! MAKE RICHIE PROUD!" he yelled at the television. He turned to his agent and said with a smile, "She is such a sweetheart." 

With the third hit on the tank, Stan Uris' television in Atlanta, Georgia switched from the Seinfeld rerun to the live concert in Derry. 

Him and his wife looked over to the television from the puzzle. 

First Stan was confused, but when he saw Winter on stage, he immediately smiled; "That's Winter Callaghan from Derry!" 

"Who?" his wife asked. 

"She was..." he watched her with admiration, "She was the lead singer of our band from high school, alongside Bill. Wow! I can't believe she's on stage with Celine Dion! This is amazing!" 

With the fourth hit on the tank, Beverley Marsh's television in Chicago, Illinois switched from Rookie Blue to the Celine Dion concert. 

"What the fuck is this?!" Tom Rogan shouted at the television. He tried switching it back, but the remote wasn't working. 

Bev looked up from her catalog to the television. Instantly, she felt adrenaline running through her; "THAT'S WINTER! OH, MY GOD! IT'S WINTER!" 

She went on the floor and scooted herself up close to the television. 

"WHO?!" her husband asked confused. 

Bev continued to smile at the television as she said, "She was the only girl in high school that was nice to me. She was one of my best friends." 

With the fifth hit on the tank, Ben Hanscom's television in Upstate, New York switched from the news to Winter standing on the stage in Derry. 

Ben looked up from his model of the banquet hall towards the television. He recognized Winter's facial features right away. He smiled as he felt his mind-racing as he wondered what was going on. He turned the volume up on his television and watched. 

With the sixth, seventh and eighth hit on on the tank, Winter felt the room quiet down and there was less mental sound in her head. Her scars stopped burning. The sudden stop of her scars hurting her, made her look down towards her stomach, and she noticed that there was no blood. There was never blood there at all. 

Winter could feel eight pairs of eyes on her that were stronger than any other pairs of eyes that were watching her from the audience. All she could think about was feeling Eddie, Bev, Bill, Stan, Richie, Mike, Ben, and the strongest pair of eyes she knew belonged to Henry. She could feel strength being given to her. As she stood there, looking at Celine, she could feel Henry's eyes on her that made her feel the strongest, that made her feel the most love. She knew at that point that Henry was watching her, but it felt like he was right beside her. 

Henry looked from his turtle glowing, back to Winter on the television. It felt like minutes were passing by slowly, but it was only seconds that had passed from Winter walking on stage to that moment that she continued to wait for her instruction. He could tell that she was still nervous, but she wasn't in pain anymore. 

Henry, hoping that him watching could give her some sort of strength, whispered into his balled up hands as he thought about her being nervous on stage, "You can do this, baby." 

Henry's voice whispered into Winter's ear on stage, _"You can do this, baby."_

Winter turned her head quickly towards the audience at the sound of his voice, and she said, "Henry?" and her eyes scanned around the area, looking for him.

The audio couldn't pick it up since she didn't have the microphone yet, but Henry saw her lip movements, and he knew she said his name. He moved his hands from his mouth in shock and he felt his heart drop to his stomach. 

"She said my name! She heard me!" he said. He turned to his turtle, "Are you the one doing this? Did she hear me?" 

Bev laughed at the television, "She called out for Henry!" she exclaimed excitedly more to herself than to her husband.

Stan looked to his wife and smiled, "She just said Henry's name," he laughed. "I wonder if they got married." 

Mike tilted his head at the television to see her mouth-out Henry's name, and wondered what caused her to do that. 

From the distance where Eddie sat watching, he didn't see her call out Henry's name. He just was nervously anticipating for her to start performing. 

As Winter continued to scan the audience, wondering how she heard Henry's voice right in her ear, Celine went up to her and put her hand in hers as she said towards the audience,

"Hi Winter, tell everyone where you're from..."

Trying to hide her nervousness, she said into the microphone that Celine put towards her, "I'm from Derry, but I currently live in Castle Rock." Her voice echoed in the arena.

The audience roared with applause at the mention of Derry and Castle Rock.

Henry's eyes went wide at the mention of Castle Rock. "She's in Castle Rock!" he repeated. He finally felt a weight lift off his shoulders from just knowing what town she lived in.

Celine said into the microphone, "I've heard you sing before, you have an amazing voice."

Winter let out a tiny giggle and said, "Thank you!" into the microphone. 

Henry smiled at her giggle as tears began to form behind his eyes. All the emotions he was feeling for her felt overwhelming. 

Celine looked towards the audience, "I have never handed my microphone for someone to sing one of my songs during my show, so tonight is a very special night. The stage is yours, Winter Callaghan!" 

The audience cheered and clapped for Winter.

Celine handed Winter the microphone and proceeded in walking to the side of the stage where she was going to watch. 

Winter walked over to the centre of the stage in the middle of the spotlights. 

As the piano, violins and synthesizer began to play, she remembered what Will Hopper had said to her before going on stage in high school:

_"Just remember, when you're looking at the audience tonight, try to frequently look at the exit doors on the balcony. If you're looking up there, it gives the audience the illusion that you're looking at all of them. Winter, once you're on stage, singing, you're the boss and there is no chance that everyone is going to be just sitting in their chairs bored. Once everyone hears your voice, you'll be getting a standing ovation."_

Winter remembered singing this song in high school, and she remembered the only thing on her mind while performing it was Henry. His eyes on her during that performance as he sat in the audience gave her the strength she needed, and he didn't know that she was singing this song to him. 

As she felt his eyes on her giving her strength from wherever he was, and after mysteriously hearing him speak into her ear, she thought about him as she began to sing...

_**"Take me back into the arms I love..."** _

Her clear, crisp, soft soprano voice echoed in the arena, and the audience cheered as she nailed the notes perfectly. 

Henry's eyes went wide, and even though he was not in a relationship with her or hadn't seen her in four years, he felt so proud of her. "She got her voice back!" he nearly cried as he moved his hand from his mouth to quickly wipe his eyes. 

In the audience, Eddie smiled and applauded his hands together, feeling all the tension and nervous emotions he had for her disappear. He watched the woman he was in love with captivate the audience as they all quickly became quiet to hear her voice. 

_**"Need me like you did before..."** _

"YES!" Bev shouted as she ran her hands through her hair with adrenaline. She began to cry with tears of joy, "She sounds so beautiful!" 

Tom watched his wife, and shook his head at her as he continued to watch. 

**_"Touch me once again..._ **

**_And remember when there was no one that you wanted more..."_ **

Bill grinned happily at his hotel television screen, and couldn't be prouder of his partner on stage during their high school band days. He shook his head in astonishment. 

**_"Don't go you know you'll break my heart..._ **

**_She won't love you like I will..._ **

**_I'm the one who'll stay when she walks away...  
_ **

**_And you know I'll be standing here still..."_ **

As Winter prepared for the chorus, she remembered looking at Henry as he sat in the audience during the Christmas concert in 1996. She remembered seeing him as an adult once the turtle changed them all into adults. In that moment, in her mind, all she saw was Henry, and a tear formed under her eyelid as every single feeling and emotion she had for Henry came to the surface. 

**_"I'll be waiting for you here inside my heart..._ **

**_I'm the one who wants to love you more..."_ **

Somehow, from the magic of connection from the turtle, all The Losers and Henry knew she was singing to Henry, and they all knew that she was aware that they were watching her. The realization hit them all like an emotional ton of bricks, especially Henry. 

Henry could feel his heart racing, his pulse vibrating and every ounce of love he had towards her felt overwhelming. He wiped a tear under his eye as he continued to watch her. 

"She's thinking of me! She's singing to me!" he said to himself as he felt butterflies in his stomach. 

**_"You will see I can give you everything you need..._ **

**_Let me be the one to love you more..."_ **

Richie shouted with emotions and adrenaline as he yelled in excitement at the television; "THAT'S MY GIRL, WINTER! YEAH, BABY!" He took another shot of whiskey, "THAT SHOT WAS FOR YOU, BABYDOLL!" 

Stan turned to his wife, and she noticed that her husband was becoming emotional; "Wow... Just wow! She sounds amazing! I feel like I'm there in person!"

**_"See me as if you never knew..._ **

**_Hold me so you can't let go..._ **

**_Just believe in me..._ **

**_I will make you see all the things that your heart needs to know..."_ **

Mike continued to watch on the edge of his sofa, feeling the connection between her, Henry and all The Losers. As he enjoyed listening to her beautiful voice, he wondered if this was something the turtle was doing. 

Ben wiped a tear as he watched Winter singing with so much emotion as she was in her own world. He remembered watching her world of love as an outsider when her and Henry were together, and it brought back so many memories from high school. 

As Winter continued on with the chorus, she couldn't hold back her tears as she felt Henry's presence and all her friends around her. She sang with the most emotion and the most feeling she had ever sang in her life, and the audience saw all the emotions; Some of them began to tear up themselves as they watched her in amazement. 

Eddie loved all the feelings he was getting from watching Winter sing the best she ever had, but he could feel the jealousy knowing that she was thinking of Henry with every lyric. 

**_"Some way all the love that we had can be saved..._ **

**_Whatever it takes we'll find a way..._ **

**_Believe in me, I will make you see all the things that your heart needs to know..."_ **

Bill watched with his tight smile as a tear rolled down his cheek. He didn't know where all these emotions were coming from, but he wanted to hold onto them forever. 

Just like Bill, Bev was watching as tears ran down her cheeks in her own world away from her husband. 

As the instruments increased in intensity and volume for the big finish, Winter let out every single ounce of feeling she had as everything came to the surface while she could imagine what it felt like being held in Henry's arms.

She projected her voice from her diaphragm and the audience remained shocked...

**_"I'll be waiting for you here inside my heart..._ **

**_I'm the one who wants to love you more..._ **

**_Can't you see I can give you everything you need?_ **

**_Let me be the one to love you more..."_ **

And with one last inhale and all the energy and vocal strength she had, she continued on with the last note, changing her pitch perfectly with the orchestra for an extra twenty seconds until the instruments stopped. 

The audience clapped louder and cheered the loudest that they had cheered for the entire evening. 

Henry continued to watch with the tears down his face and his heart still in his stomach. He watched as Celine Dion came from out of the side of the stage, went up to Winter, got down on her knees and began to bow down to her for show, making the audience applaud more and made Winter's cheeks turn pink. 

"HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!" Richie continued to yell as adrenaline pumped through his veins, "FUCK! WOW!" 

Bev clapped at the screen as the audience cheered for Winter for over a minute. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Jesus Christ, that was amazing!" Bill said to his television, wishing he was there in person to cheer on his friend. However, he already felt like he was there in person for the whole thing. 

Ben smiled at the television as he clapped for Winter, watching her back away shyly as the audience continued to cheer her on for longer than they did for Celine during that whole concert. 

"I think this calls for more wine!" Stan announced as he tried to hold his emotions together. This had been the best experience he's had in along time. 

Eddie continued to clap for Winter as Celine was still on the ground, bowing down to her. God, he was so proud of her. As he looked around the excited and emotional audience, he wondered how he was going to get both him and Winter out of the arena safely without a whole crowd of new fans trying to get an autograph or picture with Winter. 

Mike, feeling all the emotions from the performance, picked up his cell phone and called Henry. 

"Yeah! Hey, man!" Henry said as he grabbed his keys and all his belongings. 

"Henry! Did you feel all of that? She said your name on stage and she was singing to you, man! She was singing to you!" Mike exclaimed excitedly. 

"Mike, I'm a fucking emotional mess right now! Did you see how beautiful she is? That power coming from her voice!" Henry wiped his eyes as he sped out of his building and locked the door behind him, leaving the rest of his paperwork to deal with another day. "I'm going!" 

"Where?"

"I'm going to the venue! The concert will be done by the time I'm there. I'm going to find her. I'm not leaving that building until I find her!" Henry jumped into his truck and put the keys in the ignition. 

"Go get her, Henry! You're her missing piece to her puzzle. It was obvious while she was singing that she was pouring her heart out to you!" Mike laughed with excitement, "On the Plan B side of things, Henry, if you don't find her tonight in that crowd of 20,000 people, at least you know she's in Castle Rock!" 

"Thanks, man!" Henry said gratefully as he wiped his cheeks again. "I'm going to find her before the night's over!" 

Henry drove off to Downtown Derry to the Celine Dion concert. 


	19. Part 19: Bob Gray's Tricks (Pennywise Awakes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What tricks could be up my sleeves in this part?  
> Enjoy the bunny weekend!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Henry honked his horn as he was trying to find a parking spot in Downtown Derry where there was more traffic than usual because of the concert and because it was the opening weekend of the Derry festival, Canal Days. 

Inside the stadium, Winter and Eddie had left the arena and were walking through the hallway of the stadium. They had left four songs early so they could beat the crowd that would have all have left at the same time after the show. They wanted to prevent Winter from being bombarded by people thinking she was going to become the next upcoming musical artist after her performance. 

"Did you feel the emotion, Edz? It wasn't even the performance on stage that made it like it was for me; It was feeling all of you. All eight of you, like in high school. It was like I knew you, Henry, Bill, Mike, Ben, Stan, Richie and Bev were watching. I know you were there, but it was like you were all there!" Winter exclaimed as the adrenalin rush was still pumping through her veins. 

"Yeah... I definitely felt the emotions..." Eddie said disconnectedly, not knowing how to feel about how obvious it was that she was singing that song to Henry. 

Winter looked at him and immediately felt like he was killing her mood, "Why are you so upset about it?" 

He looked at her, "I'm not upset. You were fantastic! I just noticed that you didn't look at me once during that performance."

"Edz, I looked for you! It was impossible trying to find you, though. I could barely see anyone when I was up on the stage 'cause of how dark it was in the audience. All the lights were blinding me," Winter defended herself.

Eddie let it go and didn't bring up how he could feel that she was singing her heart out to Henry, "Well, I need to find the washroom before we go."

Winter softly smiled at him, "Okay. I'm going to buy a burger at the concession stand..." She looked over towards the small foodcourt just in front of them. "Did you want anything?"

"Get me a cheeseburger?" Eddie pulled out his wallet and pulled out a ten-dollar bill, "It's on me." 

Winter smiled at him, "No, it's on me!" She quickly kissed his cheek, "You grab coffees for us for the drive back." 

Eddie smiled and put the ten back in his wallet, "Deal!" 

As Eddie went to go find the washroom on the first floor of the building, Winter went over to get the both of them some dinner. 

When Eddie approached the first floor men's washroom, there was warning tape all around the door that showed the washroom was unavailable.

The sign read:

**'Washroom has been infected with blood. Could cause disease, like AIDs, if stepped in. Try washrooms on the second or third floor.'**

Eddie stared in disbelief and disgust at the very descriptive sign, "Okay... That's disgusting..." He took an inhale of his puffer and turned towards the stairs to go to the second floor, "Just perfect..." He mumbled sarcastically.

Once Winter had bought the burgers, she slipped them in her bag for her and Eddie to eat later once they got back to her place. She began walking towards wherever the washroom on the first floor would have been to meet Eddie when he was finished. 

She walked down an unfamiliar hallway. Once she reached the end of the hall, there were halls going in different directions. 

She blinked confused at all the different hallways and couldn't figure out how a stadium had so many different hallways when all halls and doors were suppose to lead to the arena where the concert stage was. 

Winter looked down the six different hallways, and decided to choose the one to the right. 

As she continued to walk, her nostrils filled up with the smell of rot, death and sewage. 

"Jesus! Was there a sewage leak?" she said to herself as she put the collar of her top against her nose. 

When Eddie approached the men's washroom on the second floor, there was warning tape and a sign in front of that door, as well. 

This sign read:

**'Piss everywhere. Men with small dicks can't aim. Swim in piss or go to the third floor.'**

Eddie twisted his face at the sign, "Who the fuck writes the signs in this building?" He sighed and then headed towards the third floor. 

As Winter continued to turn down different hallways in the building, she was feeling deja-vu of being lost in the sewers. Not knowing where to turn, and the smell, was causing her to have flashbacks of walking down the sewer tunnels. 

The walls and the hallways would transform back and forth from the hallways in the stadium to the tunnels of the sewers. 

As she turned more corners, she could feel the anxiety building up in her that she had become lost, and the images of the sewers created panic in her. As she continued to walk, she didn't know what was real anymore. Was she in a concert stadium or was she still trapped in the sewers? 

She anxiously turned the next corner, which changed back to the hallways of the stadium again. She stood there, looking down the hallway that was exactly like all the others. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing to calm her anxiety. 

On the third floor, Eddie found the men's room. He was happy to see that there was no signs telling him disgusting messages as to why he shouldn't use the washroom. 

Meanwhile, Henry had found a parking spot close to the stadium and walked towards the building. As he was walking that windy, rainy night, he was thinking that Winter would have been on the first floor since she would have had to been close to the stage. 

Winter stood in the middle of the hallway, counting in her head so her anxiety would disappear. 

"Hello, Winter!" 

Winter jumped at the voice behind her. She turned around and was faced with an odd-looking middle aged man, however he had a youthful-like appearance to him, as well. He had a huge receding hairline, had a droopy wet lower lip, was wearing brown dress-pants, and a dress-shirt covered by a long black coat. 

Her scars began to burn on her stomach more than usual.

_It had claws this time, which rose up and sliced her stomach, like a threatened lion ready to kill._

_"You can't leave, Winter! The fun has just begun!"_

Winter looked into the man's eyes, and she got a very bad vibe from him. There was something about him that was familiar about his presence, but she couldn't figure out how she would know this man standing in front of her as he didn't look like anyone she had seen before. She had also noticed that the death and rot smell was very strong as he stood there. 

"Have I met you before?" Winter asked standoffishly, holding her hand to her stomach. 

He giggled at the question. His giggle was very child-like and would crackle... Like a clown. 

"I haven't seen you since you were a teenager!" he exclaimed. His voice would change from a high-pitch to a very low crackly pitch. 

Winter shook her head at him, "I don't remember ever seeing you before..."

"Oh, that's all right!" His lower lip dripped drool down his coat, "You'll remember soon enough. I heard you were singing tonight, and I thought I would wake up from my long, long slumber to come see you!" He laughed very goofily. "You see, Winter, I like to play tricks before I begin the real fun."

Winter stared at him from his eyes to his droopy lower lip and she could feel herself tensing up and wanting to stand a far-distance away from him. 

"How rude of me!" he smiled and giggled, "I should have introduced myself! My name is Bob Gray, and I'm an entertainer. I wanted to see if you were interested in my services to get you on stages internationally immediately!" 

Still unsure about him, Winter shook her head, "I'm not interested in a singing career." 

"Well you should be!" he giggled again, "You'd be on TMZ by tomorrow if you just laid down on a picnic table with your legs spread open."

"Excuse me?!" Winter snapped. 

The man laughed, "It's nothing to be ashamed about! You and Henry weren't ashamed when you fucked all those times on the picnic table, and Richie Tozier wasn't ashamed to tell the whole world!" His expression changed into a very serious look as he stared into her eyes, "Wouldn't you agree that sometimes all that depression, heartbreak and numbness can be taken away just by letting someone pound your pussy for a few minutes? Replace the not-so-good feelings with something more pleasurable?" 

Winter squinted her eyes at him, "Look! I don't know who the FUCK you think you are, but..." 

He giggled madly, "OOO! Always such a little firecracker, weren't you?" his excitement made him spit as he talked. "I can get you on a contract that will help you lose all those bad emotions, Winter..." the man said, "Spend twenty-four hours of the day with a cock inside of you. One male fan after another! The fans will love it! You got to make the fans happy, right?"

"This is ridiculous! I'm not going to be manipulated by you!" she said as she began to turn around and walk away. 

"But you let Eddie manipulate you..."

Winter stopped and slowly turned around towards him, "What do you mean I let him manipulate me?! He doesn't manipulate me! And, how the fuck do you know Eddie?!"

"All us business men know each other! I'm going to go pay him a visit once I'm done here with you!" he smiled, "It's a fair-trade, don't you think? You let him manipulate you and he lets you use him." 

If Winter wasn't so weirded out by this man, she would have hit him in the face; "I do not use him!" 

"You are very aware he's married, and that your mind is on another man. All those times you told yourself not to get involved with him while he's working out his marriage, you have still seduced him and let him fuck your numb and depressed emotions out. You keep him around so he can take away your pain, and he lies to you so you don't leave him behind." 

Winter stared angrily at the odd-man in front of her as he grinned his yellow teeth. Were they always that yellow? 

The hall started to fill with people coming out of the arena after the concert. Winter quickly looked around at the people passing by to leave the building. 

She turned to Bob Gray, "Fuck you!" She turned around to walk away. 

Bob Gray laughed evilly as he said to the people passing by, "Don't get on her bad side..." Then his voice changed into a demonic evil tone, "She will stick a needle full of Fentanyl in your neck if you piss her off." 

Winter heard the comment and quickly turned her head to look at the man who was staring at her with those evil eyes as the drool fell from his lower lip onto the floor. He was staring at her like a lion would stare at a helpless sheep. 

She continued to walk away into the crowd. 

Henry made it in the stadium hallway and was looking through the crowds of people that were exiting the building. The amounts of people pushing through made him realize that this was going to be more difficult than he thought. 

He kept himself against the wall as he walked down the hallway, skimming every face he could to find Winter. 

As Winter continued to walk through the crowd, some of them would go up to her and tell her she did a great job, and some of them would just pass her with a smile. However, some of them who passed her looked like corpses from the sewers; The crowd of corpses that chased her down the tunnels to make her stay in the Derry sewage system. They had decaying skin, some had their jaws ripped off, and blood all over their tattered clothes. She leaned against the wall and stood there, in fear, as she watched the group walking by her.

In the third floor washroom, Eddie had left the stall and went over to the sink to wash his hands. A few others from the washroom left the stalls, and Eddie noticed that all of them didn't go over to give their hands a wash after doing their business. 

"Fucking assholes!" he said as he watched the door close behind them. 

He was alone now in the washroom. He turned on the tap and rinsed his hands with soap and water.

The lights flickered on and off quickly, causing Eddie to jump. 

When the lights were back on, he looked up towards the bulbs on the ceiling. He then noticed the smell of sewage in the room. It had come so suddenly.

"Oh, God!" he twisted his face in disgust. 

"Ooooooooo, and then everything had just disappeared! Woooe is meeeee!" 

Eddie jumped and yelled, "FUCKING SHIT!" He looked towards the corner of the room where Bob Gray sat on the floor dressed as a homeless man in his ripped up clothes and held a can of change. 

"Ooooooo Eddie! Eddie Boy..." he prolonged each vowel sound like a ghost, letting it vibrate in his throat. "When will you learn, Eddie? When will you learn?"

"How the fuck do you know my name?!" Eddie stared at his long droopy lip with the drool coming off of it. 

"I read about how you lost everything..." he stared up at Eddie as he sat on the dirty floor, "You lost your wife, because you wanted to pursue the relationship with your true love, and Myra took all the money you ever made." 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Eddie's heart began to race at the mention of his wife wiping him out dry. 

The man held up a newspaper dated tomorrows date with Eddie's face on the front. 

It read:

**_'Nation-Wide Businessman Loses Everything'_ **

Eddie began to feel himself start to panic. He took an inhale from his puffer and refused to take the paper the man was offering. He didn't want to catch whatever diseases he could have had. 

"This can't be real!"

The man began to laugh, "I was exactly like you, Eddie. I had my own business and was successful. I let a woman with a tight pussy take over my priorities, though. Now I have no wife, I have no business, I have no tight pussy to put my cock into, and I have no money. Now, here I am today. Where you will be tomorrow..." he grinned his yellow teeth at him. "My legs don't work anymore, because I tried to run before I could walk."

Eddie continued to stare at him, fearing that this man was a symbol of what his future was going to look like. 

"Tell me, Eddie; What are you more afraid of... Are you more afraid of the past catching up with you or what the future looks like?" He asked interested, "Are you more afraid that Winter will look at you again like how she did when you were teenagers, and you will be put back in the friend-zone after she figures out that you're a liar? Or, are you more afraid of the future when your wife finds out that she's married to a scumbag and takes everything away from you? Besides, once your wife divorces you and takes everything you have, do you think Winter would want to stay with a low-life, poor man who has zero control of his life?" The man laughed, "It's all about the control you so desperately need, isn't it, Eddie? Right now your wife thinks your working and your little side-chick thinks your leaving your wife... When do you think this is all going to backfire and blow up in your face?"

Eddie took another inhale of his puffer as he felt like his knees would buckle by the stress the man was creating in his head.

"Isn't being an adult complicated? I could have ended your misery when life was all about Magic the Gathering, D&D, and band practice."

Eddie stared at him terrified by everything he had to say to him, "How do you know all this about my life?" 

Bob Gray ignored his question and shook his head, "The little boy who saw his naked friend having sex with her boyfriend on the picnic table wasn't enough to be kept to his imagination... You had to become obsessed with it, and the moment you saw her in person after fourteen years, you wanted to do anything to know what it felt like to be the one fucking her. How many times did you really go back, Eddie? The others promised each other that they would never watch again, but that was only the beginning of your lies, wasn't it?"

Eddie looked to the side of the wall as he remembered all the times he went to the picnic table while Henry and Winter were having sex. He was ashamed of how many times he would watch them. 

_"Harder, Henry! It feels so good! Oh, my God, Henry!"_

"For that whole summer, you waited to see Winter's juicy, naked body sprawled on that picnic table, and you touched yourself when her moans would become louder and her body moved back and forth from being fucked." Bob let out an evil laugh, "All those times you've had sex with her, and she never understood how you knew how to do everything she liked so perfectly... and it's because you were studying everything that made her orgasm since you were a kid." He grinned his teeth at him, "You're a perv, Eddie. A perv with a fixation on your high school crush." 

"I don't know how you know me and know what I did as a kid, but I was a curious little kid going through puberty! So, fuck off!" 

As the man laughed on the floor, Eddie ran out of the washroom, not wanting to hear anymore. 

When he was on the third floor hallway, the crowds of people were walking backwards, as if they were on re-wind. 

"What the fuck is going on?" Eddie said to himself as he watched the crowds of people walking backwards without bumping into each other. 

Winter took a puff of her inhaler as her anxiety was up from all the people passing by her that were half alive and half dead corpses. All of them were smiling at her as they passed. Her scars burned as people went up to her and said, "You were amazing, Winter! Could I get a picture?" Without even answering, they would be taking selfies with her, and Winter tried her hardest to concentrate on the photos in stead of the dead bodies walking by that no one else seemed to notice. 

Henry had walked around the same hallway over and over again, going in circles, looking for Winter in the hordes of people. He was becoming frustrated as it seemed like the crowds were becoming bigger, and instead of everyone going one way down the hall to look for the exits, they were just walking back and forth, making the crowds bigger. 

"Why is no one leaving?!" Henry said to himself frustrated as he tried to nudge by people to get through. As he became more overwhelmed by the crowd, he screamed out, "WINTER!" 

Winter heard her name down the hallway. 

She looked over to the massive crowd of people that had formed that wouldn't stop talking over each other. Some of them alive and some of them dead, however Henry didn't see any dead people in that crowd, only Winter could. 

"WINTER, IT'S HENRY!" Henry shouted. 

"Henry?" Winter wondered out-loud as she slowly approached the crowd of people. She yelled, "HENRY?!" She wondered if this was her mind playing tricks on her again. 

Henry heard her on the other side of the crowd. "MOVE!" he shouted to some of the people and started to make his way through the massive crowd, squeezing in-between people to get to Winter. "WINTER, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Winter's eyes lit up at the sound of his voice. She took a quick inhale of her medicine and slowly began to squeeze her way through the crowd of the dead and the undead, trying her best not to look at any of their faces. 

"HENRY, I'M TRYING TO FIND YOU!" she shouted over the crowd. As she wedged her way through more bodies that were all huddled together like a mosh pit, she could hear random people calling out her name, all trying to get around her so she could sign a piece of paper. She bit her lip over the pain in her stomach. 

"WINTER?!" Henry called. 

He sounded closer. 

"I'M RIGHT HERE, BUT I CAN'T MOVE! THERE'S TOO MANY PEOPLE!" she yelled as she tried to push through people that wouldn't move. 

"I'M COMING!" he yelled as he pushed through more people, but the more people he pushed through, the harder it was to make them nudge. They wouldn't even move their legs, it was as if they were stuck to the ground. He was annoyed that the crowd wouldn't stop talking and calling out Winter's name for an autograph. "WINTER?!"

Winter looked up to the people in front of her, and she knew Henry was just on the other side of a couple of people in front. They were only torn apart by one or two people, but they still couldn't see each other. 

"HENRY?!" 

He heard her voice right in front of him, but the people in front wouldn't move out of the way. 

"GRAB MY HAND!" he outreached his arm in-between the bodies of people in front. "DO YOU SEE IT?!" 

Winter saw a hand reaching through and she quickly grabbed it. 

The connection they felt made them know that it was each other.

_"Yeah, Henry. I've been waiting for you to make me your girlfriend for a while now."_

_"You have no idea how much I love you, Winter. I can't live in a world without you in it with me. I will do anything to keep you safe and to make you feel safe."_

The talking around them stopped and it felt like time stood still as all the people stopped moving. They all stood in one spot on the ground and everyone was put on pause. 

Winter and Henry looked at everyone who stood still, and Henry tried to nudge the one in front, but he was like a statue standing in his spot with his feet glued to the ground. 

On the third floor, everyone stopped walking and Eddie was left looking at all the people who stood still in time. He cautiously looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. 

Henry noticed the chipped black nail polish on the fingernails of the hand that rested in his. All the people around paused in time didn't matter anymore; He had Winter's hand in his and feeling her soft skin on his rough hand was all that mattered. He wondered if she was standing still, on pause, as well, but her fingers continued to feel his skin on hers, which brought him a moment of peace and the feeling of butterflies in his stomach came back. 

Winter looked down at the hand in hers and knew it was Henry from the tattoos on his wrists. "Henry, is it really you?" she asked softly. Her scars stopped hurting and all she could feel was time standing still between her and Henry. 

He closed his eyes tightly at her sweet soft voice saying his name. "Yeah... Yeah, it's me," he responded back, tears building in his eyes as did hers. 

She continued to look around the room at the bodies standing still, but they were both still unable to see each other in the crowd of people. 

"What's happening? Why is everyone so still and quiet?" she asked confused. 

Henry quickly looked from her hand to the bodies in front of them, and then his gaze rested back on her hand in his, "I don't know what's going on." 

They stood there silently for a few moments, looking at their hands in each others as they stroked their thumbs against each others skin. Their feelings of love and ecstasy made them tear up as they couldn't find the strength to ever let go. 

"I heard you talk to me while I was on stage," Winter weakly smiled as she looked down to their hands. "I couldn't stop thinking about you when I was up there."

Henry lightly smiled as he wiped a tear from his eye, "I could feel that. You looked so beautiful up there, and you sounded amazing..." he let out a small cry under his breath, "You always looked beautiful." 

Winter pursed her lips so she didn't break out in tears; "I miss you, Henry. I think about you all the time." 

Henry was so happy to hear that. "I don't go an hour without thinking about you, Winter." He wiped his nose. "I don't want to let go... I don't want to lose you again."

Winter let out a little cry as she put her other hand under her nose, "I don't want to lose you again either, Henry... I can't be myself without you... It's been so hard..." she began to cry more. "I miss you so much," she cried. 

Henry could hear her cries and it caused him to tear up more. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to control his tears, but he couldn't, "I barely smile anymore. Ever since you left, nothing has made any sense in my life. It's like a whole chunk of me left with you on that day." 

She felt the pain in his words and it made her own heart break. "I'm so sorry I left. I'm sorry I hurt you by leaving." 

"No, Winter..." he responded right away, "You have nothing to be sorry about. Don't hate yourself for it. It's what you needed to do at the time, and that's nothing you need to apologize about. I'm the one that's sorry for what you had to go through."

Winter sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheek, "I wish I could see you." 

Henry really wanted to see her, too. He tried to push the people in front of them out of the way, "They won't move... It's like trying to move concrete." Henry looked back down at her hand and tried to think. He took a couple of seconds before he said, "If they stopped moving after we grabbed hands, we might need to let go for them to move again... I'll push them out of the way to get to you..."

Winter nodded as more tears fell from her eyes, "I'm scared I might lose you again." 

Henry ran his hand against the top of his head as he said, "Just try not to move when they start moving. I'll find you." 

They looked at each others hands again, this time taking a mental image of the love they finally found again as they stood hand-in-hand. They both didn't want to let go. Everything was beginning to feel complete again, like the missing piece of a puzzle was finally found.

"On the count of three, we'll let go..." Henry said. "One..." 

Henry could feel Winter's grip tighten; She wasn't ready, but they had to, and he wasn't ready either. 

"Two..." 

They both closed their eyes as their grip became stronger and neither one of them wanted to say three.

"Three..."

They let go.

Winter was pulled away and she was face-to-face with the old woman in the sewers from her dreams. She stared her straight in the face with her face so close to hers, "YOU NEED TO WAKE UP, WINTER!" she shouted. 

And just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. 

The crowd began moving again, and just like the typhoon in the sewers, the massive wave of people trying to leave the stadium broke Henry and Winter apart, separating them to different ends of the hallway until they were so far apart in the crowd that they wouldn't find each other. 

"NO!" Henry yelled at the people pushing him to the other side of the room, "GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!" he pushed. 

The other half of the group pushed Winter towards the exit doors and pushed her outside in the rain. 

"No! No! No! No!" Winter began to panic as she looked around in the crowd outside for Henry. "HENRY?!" She began to hyperventilate, "He was just here! He was just here!" She moved through the crowds of people and tried to look for her soulmate in a panic. 

Inside the stadium, Henry continued to push through people as he began to feel anxious. He didn't know what was going on with all these massive crowds and just wanted to find Winter again. "WINTER!" he yelled. 

She was unable to hear him outside in the pouring rain.

"HENRY?!" she screamed.

After long minutes of looking for Henry, she slid down the wall of the building and curled her knees to her chest. She sat there and shook as she cried more than she had in a long time. 

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" Henry cried in the hallway. His emotions made him slide down the wall onto the floor as he cried into his knees. "SHE WAS RIGHT HERE!" he cried and hit the wall with his fist. 

"Winter?" Eddie said, finding her outside in the pouring rain crying on the ground. "Are you okay?!" 

Winter looked up at him with tears and rain pouring down her face. She hyperventilated as she couldn't figure out if anything that happened in the hallways, from the moment she thought she was trapped in the sewers to her and Henry talking, was real. She stared up at Eddie as she cried, "I think there's something wrong with me." 

Her painful cry broke his heart. He got down on his knees in front of her and rubbed her arms up and down soothingly. "Winter, there's nothing wrong with you. This place is fucking weird, okay? I don't know what happened to you in there, but I had a fucking weird experience in the washroom and in the hallway..." he wiped her cheeks with his hand, "We'll grab some coffee and we'll go back to your place." 

Winter shook her head, "I don't want to leave!" she said painfully. "I can't leave yet! He might..." she motioned towards the entrance of the building, "He might..." ' _He might be still in there!'_ is what she really wanted to scream. She couldn't finish her sentence as her breathing was becoming difficult. 

"Where's your puffer?" Eddie asked.

"My... my bag..." she grabbed a hold of her bad that was looped around her shoulders, but she was in such an emotional state that she was shaking and couldn't control her hands going through her bag. 

Eddie gently looked through her bag to find her puffer. Once he found the inhaler, he instructed her to inhale as he pressed down on the apparatus. 

He put it back in her bag and held her in his arms, "It's okay..." he kissed her cheek and then said, "If you saw massive amounts of people moving backwards or paused in time like I did, then you're not crazy. I don't know what else you saw, but I saw weird shit tonight, too. It's all mind-games, 'cause none of that could have been real, right? Maybe it's haunted or some shit like that."

Winter's lower lip began to quiver. She wanted talking to Henry to have been real, but she wasn't sure after all that happened in there... But she felt his hand in hers and the connection was so strong! She wondered how it could have not been real. 

Eddie got back up from the ground and pulled her back up. He placed his arm around her trembling body and led her towards the car. 

Henry sat on the floor in the hallway as less people were around, making their way towards the exit. He sat there crying feeling like a heartbroken man as he didn't know if what happened between him and Winter was real or not. 


	20. Part 20: It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting closer to the reunion chapter!!! Who's going to cry during that chapter?? I know I will!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> Follow me on Instagram:  
> xo.love.of.horror

"So, there were thousands of people and they wouldn't move, they just kept talking and walking into each other instead of leaving the building?" 

"Yes! Now I'm frustrated 'cause I don't know if I actually spoke to Winter. Something all about it didn't seem real. It was like I was in a fucking fun-house or something." Henry made a turn to get into the lane going east and stopped behind the traffic at a red light as he spoke with Mike on speakerphone. "Then, once Winter and I grabbed hands in the crowd, time stopped - _everyone_ stopped! They all turned into statues until we let go, and then they all rushed to get out of the place like someone shot a gun in the building or something. It was chaotic."

"Do you think it was the turtle?" Mike asked. 

"No... Whatever was doing it was causing a lot of fear in the hallway..."

"Pennywise?" 

Henry's eyes darted to the speaker where Mike's voice came from. The realization that it could have been the clown created a fear in Henry. "Maybe... I don't know..." He moistened his lips and said, "I hope it wasn't, because I don't want to think about Winter being in Derry without me to protect her if it was It." 

The light turned green and Henry waited for the cars in front to begin moving. 

Henry looked at his side-mirror and noticed the car in the turning lane driving at a hundred miles per hour. Right away, he recognized the 1958 Red Plymouth Fury driving through the rain.

"MOVE, FUCKERS!" Arnie shouted to the cars that were about to turn south onto Side Road 14 from the turning lane. 

The car turned onto the side road and continued to speed down the street.

"For fuck sakes!" Henry sighed, quickly turning into the turning lane and driving down the road to follow Arnie. 

"Who was that?" Mike asked, hearing the rebelling (more like possessed) teenager screaming. 

"It's Arnie! He's going thirty over the speed limit down Side Road 14!" Henry kept his eyes on the car fifty feet in front of him as he tried to match the speed to keep up with him. "I'm following him! I'm going to rip that kid out of that car!" 

Thankfully it was just a side road that was in the middle of the forests and didn't occupy any residential areas or many cars at this hour, or else Arnie could have probably killed someone. 

"And then what are you going to do?" Mike asked nervously, "Vic, Belch and Ace will try to kill you." 

"I haven't thought that far ahead. I just need to get Arnie away from them and that car!" Henry was closer to them, only about thirty feet away. 

"Be careful, Henry!" Mike said, "I'll stay with you on the phone." 

Arnie looked up in his rearview-mirror and noticed Henry's truck right away. He took a sip of his tallboy can of Budweiser and glared at the truck matching his speed from behind. 

"WE HAVE A VISITOR!" Arnie shouted to himself, knowing the voices in his head would tell him what to do. 

_"Let him catch up behind you!"_ Vic's voice said in Arnie's head. His physical form, or Ace and Belch's, were not strong enough to form yet as Pennywise was only just waking up today. 

Arnie slowed down a bit to let Henry catch up, keeping his eyes on the mirror. 

Henry noticed that Arnie's speed slowed down, and he could see Arnie's angry and evil glare in the mirror inside the Plymouth. Those weren't Arnie's eyes. 

"He knows I'm following him!" Henry said to Mike. 

"Just don't get out of the car, Henry!" Mike warned. 

Henry was now eight feet behind Arnie.

Arnie came to an abrupt stop when he hammered his foot on the brake, thinking it would make Henry crash in the back of the vehicle. 

Henry pressed down on the brake right away, coming to a stop six feet behind Arnie. 

Arnie quickly put his car in reverse and stepped on the accelerator. 

Quick enough, Henry did the same thing; He went into reverse and stepped on his accelerator. He turned his body to look at what was behind him and redundantly looked towards Arnie's car to see how close he was. 

They were both reversing up the road at eighty miles per hour. 

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Arnie laughed as he continued to stare at Henry's truck behind him as he tried to get closer. 

Every time Arnie accelerated more, Henry would, as well, to keep him as far away from him as possible. They were both reversing at a six foot distance from each other on the empty road. 

Arnie stepped on his brake and came to a stop. 

Henry stepped on his brake, as well. He continued to watch Arnie's eyes in the mirror as he stared at him. 

"What's going on?" Mike asked. "I hear a lot of traction." 

Henry put down his window and yelled to Arnie; Arnie's window also rolled down; "DON'T BE STUPID, ARNIE! YOUR CAR IS LESS THAN HALF THE SIZE OF MY TRUCK! I WILL SMOKE YOUR CAR IF YOU HIT ME!" He was thankful he had impulse bought a 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 at the end of 2011. 

Arnie rolled his eyes and lolled his head, blowing out air. That weekend he had killed all the bullies in his high school and killed the man who owned Darnell's Garage with the car, but he hadn't gotten any directions to kill Henry... yet. He was only told about the others Pennywise wants him to kill. The bullies and Darnell was just apart of Arnie's own personal revenge. 

The sound of police sirens were coming up quickly from behind them. 

Arnie smiled, knowing this was his ticket out, and sped on down the road. He figured Henry could handle the cops. 

Henry's eyes went from the police lights coming from behind to Arnie speeding away out of sight. "Fuck!" Henry hit the steering wheel. 

The police cruiser stopped behind Henry. 

"At least you're safe, Henry," Mike said, hearing the sirens approaching over the phone. 

"Yeah, well, Arnie's not safe..." he sighed, grabbing his registration papers and his wallet for when the cop approaches the car. 

As Henry waited, he tapped his card impatiently against his steering wheel and watched the cop car from the side-mirror. 

"I guess I'll let you deal with that on your own, man," Mike said. 

"Yeah! Yeah, no problem, man!" Henry responded, "I'll let you go." 

The cop got out of the cruiser and began to walk over to Henry's truck. 

As Henry watched him walk over, his body filled up with fear. He looked at the cop's face, and he didn't see what he was expecting to see. 

Mike began, "I'll talk to you..."

"No! What the fuck?!" Henry's heart began to race. 

"What?!" 

"That's my fucking uncle, man!" Henry could feel his face becoming hot, "It's my Uncle Jim!" 

"What?" Mike asked in disbelief. "Your uncle that died?" 

Henry didn't answer as he kept his eyes on his uncle, who looked very much alive, walking closer. 

"Henry, do you have your Bluetooth with you? Put it in your ear so I can stay on the line! Just don't talk to me."

Henry quickly grabbed his Bluetooth and put the device in the ear away from the window. 

The officer, his late-Uncle Jim, looked at Henry in the vehicle. "Do you mind telling me why you were reversing your truck up the road at eighty miles per hour in a fifty zone?" 

"Just play along..." Mike said to him in his ear. 

"I was trying to get away from someone who was trying to reverse into me..." Henry tried not to look at him, but he couldn't help it. "You should be ticketing Arnie Cunningham, not me." 

Jim Hopper smiled a yellow grin, "Arnie Cunningham is just being a kid. He's just doing what he has to do." 

"And what would that be?" Henry asked, knowing that the yellow teeth belonged to Pennywise, wearing his uncles face. 

Jim shot him a glare, "You don't get to ask questions! Only I get to ask the questions!" 

"He's probably been told to do what I couldn't accomplish for you, right?" Henry asked, starting to feel mad that the clown came up to him as his dead uncle and took his favourite employees soul from him. "Fucking take a good innocent kid and turn him into a fucking psychopath, right? I must be a disgrace to you since you didn't get me to do your fucked up orders! " 

Mike didn't say anything, he just continued to listen with anxiety building up in him. 

Jim Hopper stared at Henry, and then began to laugh, evilly. "You want to go to jail tonight? Cause you're making this too easy!" He became serious again and shouted, "GIVE ME YOUR LICENSE AND REGISTRATION, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" 

"Give him what he's asking for," Mike directed. 

Henry handed the man his license and registration. 

Jim Hopper looked at his drivers license and glared at Henry, "Get out of the fucking truck!" 

Its hands that were bare before were covered with white gloves.

"Am I being arrested, officer?" Henry asked, knowing his rights. 

"YES!" he shouted angrily, "I'm going to arrest you for having someone else's license! This license belongs to my nephew!" 

Its skin on Its chest began to show signs of decay up to Its neck. 

Henry looked at him in disbelief, "Yes! You're trying to fuck with me by looking like my uncle! I am the real Henry-fucking-Bowers!" 

"MY NEPHEW KILLED HIMSELF! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE HIS LICENSE?!" he shouted, throwing the papers and license back into the truck.

Its eyes became yellow. 

Henry was taken back by what he said. He stared at the man silently as he processed him saying that he had killed himself. The realization that maybe he never actually came back to life that night hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Henry, don't let It get into your head! It's not true! You're not dead!" Mike said into his ear. "Don't let that thing get into your fears!" 

Its ears had tiny worms slithering in and out.

Henry looked up to Jim and said calmly, "I _am_ Henry Bowers. I died for two minutes on December 22, 2008 after trying to kill myself, but I was brought back. I was the nephew of Officer Jim Hopper who passed away because of the ghosts associated to you on July 4, 2006. I am not going to listen to a piece of sewage trash like you." 

Jim Hopper kept his eyes on Henry's as he slowly began to back away from the truck. 

Henry could feel the presence was becoming fearful of him for not falling into Its trap. 

Its voice changed to the voice of the clown Henry remembers as a teenager, "You chose the wrong side to play on, Henry. You let Winter take you away from what your purpose was, and now you're a lost man. She's not even with you anymore yet she's still your weakness." 

Keeping his eyes on the creature, Henry responded with, "You can't twist my mind around, because I know she saved me from you when I was a little kid, and again when I was a teenager. You're totally right about one thing; She is my weakness, but she's also my strength. We won the battle against you because of our idea, and we're going to win the war. Consider me one of the Lucky Seven. It's the Lucky Nine now."

Henry turned the ignition and drove away, leaving the thing that was dressed as his Uncle Jim behind on the middle of the road. Henry just wanted to get home as soon as possible. 

"So... We can confirm It's back?" Mike said. Henry's Bluetooth was still in his ear. 

Henry took a moment to collect himself and said, "Yep... It's back..." 

"You'll be at the shop tomorrow?" Mike asked, referring to Henry's business. 

"Yeah, I'll be there..." he said, still feeling shaken up. 

"I'll come by in the morning. We'll try looking everyone up." 

"I definitely have Eddie's number in my computer at work. I fixed his car back in March." 

"That's a start." Mike became quiet on the other end as he reflected on everything he had heard between Henry and his 'uncle'. "You did a good job with It, Henry. Stay safe. Have a goodnight. See you tomorrow." 

"See you tomorrow, Mike." 

Henry sat in his car in his driveway. He was hoping that Winter made it home safely from the concert stadium. Now knowing that It had come back, he felt really anxious about Winter's safety. 

After he collected his papers and license that the clown had thrown back in his car, he grabbed his phone. Now that he knew Winter lived in Castle Rock, he searched her name in Facebook and filtered it for the only people named Winter Callaghan that lived in Castle Rock, Maine. 

There were only two accounts under that name in the town of Castle Rock. 

The first account he clicked on had a display photo of a woman's back turned towards the camera as she went bike riding down a road. He didn't think it was his Winter, but he messaged her anyway. 

The second account he clicked on really grabbed his attention. 

The display photo was a woman sitting on a sofa with a fictional novel open in front of her face. She was wearing a 1990's Green Day t-shirt and running shorts. The book she was holding was _'The Woman In Black'_ by Susan Hill. 

He had a feeling that it could have been his Winter. Not only did her body and t-shirt make him think it was her, but their mutual love for reading horror fiction really gave him the feeling that it was her. 

He missed the days that they would read the same book together, trying to read at the same speed. For such an extroverted woman, she was always able to satisfy his introverted personality with their love for quietly reading and wanting to spend just one-on-one time together in the evening after a long day. 

He scrolled down the profile a little bit, but it was set to private. The account was enabled that she could receive messages from people outside her friends-list, which was the most important thing to Henry. 

Henry messaged her the same thing he wrote to the other Winter Callaghan in Castle Rock:

_'I'm not sure if you're the Winter Callaghan I'm looking for since there are hundreds on here. If you are, I hope you message me back.'_

In Castle Rock, Maine, Winter and Eddie had just arrived to Winter's home from the long and silent trip back to her home. They were both shaken up over the events that happened after the concert, especially Winter. The only time they spoke was when Winter asked Eddie if he knew a business-man by the name of Bob Gray, which he responded with saying that he had never heard anyone by that name before. 

Winter and Eddie silently walked into her apartment. 

Winter threw her bag onto the kitchen island and immediately went to the washroom. 

While she was in the washroom and Eddie sat at the island stool and was was waiting for her in the kitchen as he ate his burger, he heard her phone ping. 

Eddie's attention went to her phone that had spilled out of her bag. He had never looked at her phone before, but since it was right there in front of him, he noticed it right away. 

The lock screen lit up with a notification from her Facebook Messenger. 

_**'Message Request'** _

Seeing that notification saying 'Request' made him realize that it was someone outside of her friends-list that was trying to contact her. 

Curiously, he grabbed the phone and went to her messenger app. He didn't open the message, but he could see that it was from Henry and only the first few words of the message was visible without clicking on it as 'Read'. If he read it, and Winter saw that it was read and she wasn't the one that opened it, she would know it was him that opened it. 

Eddie exited the app, which now showed that the notification had disappeared. Eddie knew Henry saw her on TV and found her because she said that she lived in Castle Rock. "Shit..." he sighed. 

In the washroom, Winter sat in the tub with the door locked. She was having a panic attack as she sat there with her knees to her chest. The tears were coming out in streams and her head was spinning with panic. 

_'I was holding his hand... I had to have been holding his hand... It had to have been real. What if it wasn't real, though?! What if missing him so much had made me snap?! Was it some sort of fucking closure thing my brain created and projected into real life?! What the fuck is that?!'_

Winter cried more and more as her brain wouldn't stop. 

_'I heard him talk to me when I was on stage... That must mean I am going crazy! I'm going fucking crazy! But he was right there!!! We talked! We held hands! We were going to try and find each other before the crowd went psychotic! Shut up, Winter! You're panicking! All those dead corpses that were walking by, and the images of the sewers! I am going crazy! It wasn't real! None of it was real! And, who the fuck was Bob Gray, and how did he know what I did as a teenager?! How did he know Eddie and Henry?! What is going on?!'_

Panicking, Winter grabbed her razor blade and put it to her skin. Just like four months ago before she ran into Eddie at the hospital, she said to herself over and over again as she had the blade pressed to her skin, "Feel something... Feel something... Feel something..." She needed to feel something other than her mental pain and panic.

She jumped at the sound of a knock at the door, which brought her back to reality temporarily. 

"Winter, are you okay? You've been in there for a while..." Eddie said on the other side. 

Winter took a second to wipe her tears. She said, "I'll be right out, Edz!" 

"Okay... I'll be in the kitchen..." he said before walking away. 

Winter closed her eyes tightly and wiped all the tears on her face. She put the blade down and got out of the tub. She looked at her face in the mirror and breathed in and out deeply, collecting herself before she went back out there. 

She opened the door and walked into the kitchen. As she looked at Eddie standing in the middle of the room, she felt like the room was spinning out of control from the panic attack still inside of her, wanting to snap out of her like it was in the bathroom. 

_'Stay calm, Winter. Stay calm...'_

"Myra thinks I'm working all night. I just need to get up early tomorrow so I can catch my flight to New York," Eddie said as he swallowed his bite from his burger. He looked at her and noticed how out-of-touch she seemed, "Are you okay?" he asked concerned. 

Winter didn't answer; She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at Eddie. Bob Gray's voice was in her head mixed in with her own anxious thoughts from the events of that night...

_**"But you let Eddie manipulate you..."** _

_'How could all of that not have been real?! It was Henry's hand - it was his tattoos on his wrist! Don't snap, Winter! Hold it together! You can get through this night!'_

_**"It's a fair-trade, don't you think? You let him manipulate you and he lets you use him..."** _

_'He's manipulating me?! Why?! How?! I'm not using him!'_

_**"...Let him fuck your numb and depressed emotions out. You keep him around so he can take away your pain, and he lies to you so you don't leave him behind."** _

And that's when it hit Winter as she stared at Eddie, her best friends, her companion in her darkness; When Henry and her had sex, she considered that as making love. When she had sex with Eddie, it was so he could fuck her so she could escape her reality from the pain of missing Henry. She didn't know how Eddie could have been manipulating her and lying to her, but as a married man who told her all the time that he was leaving his wife and telling his wife that he was working, then Mr. Gray was right... He was manipulating her, and it was a fair-trade. It was a toxic fair-trade, but it was a fair-trade. 

"Winter, are you sure you're all right?" Eddie said, snapping Winter out of her anxious thoughts. 

_'He manipulates me... and I use him... It's a fair-trade...'_

Winter ran over to Eddie and smashed her lips to his, running her hands through his hair and concentrated on the feeling of his hands rubbing from her back to her ass, which was taking all the mental thoughts and pain away.

She caught Eddie by surprise, but he responded. He lifted her onto her kitchen island and tore off her clothes. He slipped off his shirt, pants and boxers. He played with her nipples, kissed her neck and shoulders as she laid back with her eyes closed. 

Flashes of Henry passed through Winter's mind. She thought about feeling his hands all over her again and his lips pressed to hers, moving them rapidly as she became more and more wet. 

Eddie tried not to think of what Bob Gray told him that night about his fixation on his high school crush being fucked on the picnic table, but the way she was sprawled out on the kitchen island made him think back to the days he use to watch her in The Barrens. 

He put his cock inside of her and started out fast and hard as he watched her body rocking up and down with the power of his cock going in and out of her. 

Winter's mouth opened and her back arched as she let a moan escape at how hard and fast he was going. It's what she needed to get the negative emotions to disappear. He knew how to do it perfectly. She rubbed at his back and went from wrapping her legs around his waist to letting her legs fall wide apart as orgasms exploded inside of her. 

That night, Eddie and Winter started sleeping peacefully in her bed. Winter felt peaceful for the rest of the night as her and Eddie talked in her bed, talking about everything except for what happened at the stadium that night. She tried not to think about what happened after the concert, or hearing Henry's voice on stage, as she didn't know how it could have actually happened. However, Winter's dreams started to happen in the middle of the night. 

_Winter ran hand-in-hand with the old lady as the both of them were trying to run away from something in the sewers._

_"What is it?!" Winter asked her as they ran._

_"Finally! You're awake again!" the woman exclaimed as they turned more corners._

Eddie awoke to Winter walking around the apartment with her arm extended out as if she was being guided around different areas of the apartment. 

"Winter?" he called to her as she slept walked. He followed her close behind wherever she walked to and hoped she wouldn't hurt herself. He was taken back as this had never happened before. 

_"Why do you keep telling me to wake up all the time?" Winter asked as they kept walking through the tunnels._

_They stopped in the tunnels as they heard a loud roar echo from another tunnel behind them. Whatever it was, it was trying to find them._

_"It's awake, Winter! We need to hide!"_

"Winter?" Eddie said, grabbing her lightly by the arm. 

Winter awoke and nervously looked around her apartment, confused with how she got to the living room. 

She looked at Eddie confused, "It's awake?" she asked him, still in her dream-state, her sleepiness making her go in and out of reality. 

"What's awake?" he asked her nervously. 

"It." 


	21. Part 21: Telephone Calls & Hospital Tricks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**  
  
Monday May 28, 2012**

Eddie's alarm went off at three in the morning. He sleepily turned towards Winter who was fast asleep beside him. 

He put his arm around her and whispered, "Hey... You awake?"

Winter sleepily said, "Mhmm." 

"I've got to go to the airport and catch my plane to New York," he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. "Do you remember the dream you had earlier?" 

Winter wiped her face quickly, "No... Was I dreaming?" 

Eddie weakly smiled, still not quite understanding what she was saying to him when he brought her back to her bed from the living room. It didn't seem like she remembered sleep-walking either; "Yeah, but don't worry about it if you don't remember." 

"Okay..." Winter said as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. 

Knowing that she probably wouldn't make a last minute decision like this, but he wanted to ask her anyway; "Do you want to come to New York with me? It's for three days, and we can spend time together when I'm not working."

Winter yawned. The idea of going to New York seemed fun, but she had to go back to Derry later that morning to go to work; "I wish I could, but I have to work." 

"Call in sick?" 

Winter weakly smiled, "I don't think so, Edz. Maybe next time. I hope you have a good time, though." 

"Okay..." he smiled at her. He kissed her cheek and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Go back to sleep," he whispered in her ear before he began getting ready for his flight. 

After four more hours of sleep, after Winter had spent some time giving Tom Hanks mother her daily medicine and check-up on her vitals, she was ready for work in Derry. She caught the bus to go to Derry, and tried not to think about the events at the concert from the night before. She had came to the conclusion that she had imagined it, as it all actually happening couldn't have been real. It was her mind playing tricks on her because finding out that Henry had moved on was bothering her so much, that she imagined everything. That is what she told herself anyway.

At Bowers Mechanic Garage, Henry sat with Mike in his office. As Mike was looking down at his laptop, trying to track down The Losers Club, Henry was finishing up the paperwork he walked out on the night before to go find Winter. 

The first number they had tried was Eddie, since he was in Henry's work computer, however he had his phone off. Mike decided to try him again later. 

At that time, Eddie was on a plane to New York. 

"Hey... Hey, Bill?" 

Henry sat listening to Mike on the phone and looking at his Facebook Messenger where he got a notification from one of the Winter Callaghan accounts he messaged the night before. It was the account with the woman riding on a bike up the street. 

**Winter Callaghan:** _'Hi. Sorry. I don't think I'm who you're looking for.'_

Henry read the message and sighed. He deleted it from his messenger app. 

The other Winter Callaghan account he messaged last night kept running through his mind. It had to have been her. He quickly looked at the message he sent that account, and it was still set as 'Unread'. He clicked on the profile and looked at the display photo of the woman's face that was covered by the horror novel. He didn't know it for sure, but his gut just knew it was her. 

"So, we'll see you tomorrow, Bill?" Mike said into the phone, "Perfect! Before you go, would you happen to know how to get in contact with Winter? Like do you have a phone number or something?... No, Henry and her haven't talked in about four years... Oh? Oh, really?... Well, that's interesting... Okay, I will ask him later... Yep, you take care, too... Bye."

Henry looked over to Mike who had just gotten off the phone with Bill. "He's coming?" 

Mike rubbed the side of his face, and nodded, "Yeah, he's coming..." 

Henry noticed the confused look on Mike's face; "What's up?" he asked. 

Mike looked at him questionably, "Bill said that he doesn't have a phone number to contact Winter, but on Eddie's Facebook, he had a photo of him and her together a couple of months ago. Apparently they began hanging out again. He said that Eddie would definitely have her phone number." 

Henry stared back at Mike and was taken back. He didn't care if they were hanging out, but it didn't make sense that Eddie told him in March that he didn't know how to contact her. "How does that make sense? Eddie knows I'm looking for her and he didn't mention ever seeing her or hanging out with her when I went out for coffee with him in March." 

Mike shook his head, "I'm just as confused as you are." He took a moment to think; "Maybe they became friends again after he went for coffee with you?" 

Henry scratched the top of his head, not knowing how any of it could make sense; "Maybe, but he knew I was looking for her, and she was obviously looking for me since she showed up to the shop a month ago. My sister sent her here. It just seems weird." Henry shook his head as he thought more about the encounter he had with Eddie in March; "There was something so off about him when I was talking to him..."

"When I call him, I will definitely ask for her phone number and see what he says..." Mike said as he looked at the phone numbers for Richie, Stan and Bev that Bill provided for him. 

"Yeah! And I want to hear that conversation on speakerphone! I want to hear what he has to say!" Henry got up from his desk with the paystubs in hand and looked at Mike, "Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything while you're on the phone with him. I won't even bring it up to him when I see him unless something seems really questionable about it. My Uncle Jim taught me how to be a human lie-detector. I'm just saying I know something was off about what he was saying to me during that time I saw him." 

Mike weakly smiled and grabbed his phone, punching in Richie's number as Henry walked out to the production of his business to give everyone their paystubs. 

All the employees that weren't in at that time, Henry placed their paystubs in their mailboxes. When he looked at Arnie's mailbox, he remembered that he didn't show up for any of his weekend shifts. 

Worried about him and what he's thinking about Henry after last night, he went back into his office where Mike was now calling Stan, and sat down at his desk. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Arnie. 

_'Your paystub is in your mailbox. You haven't shown up to work all weekend. Please let me know if you're done working for me. If you're done here, I wish you luck and stay safe. If you plan to continue working here, let me know and we will talk.'_

Henry sent the text but knew he was going to be seeing Arnie, just not at work. 

"Don't forget your promise, Stan... Okay... Bye..." Mike got off the phone with Stan and looked at Henry, "Richie, Bev and Stan all said the same thing; They don't have Winter's number, but Eddie definitely would." 

Henry rolled his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on with Eddie. He quickly looked at the clock, which was now noon. He looked back at Mike, "You tried calling him a few hours ago; He probably has his phone on now. He's a business-man, he can't go long without having his phone on." Henry went over to his small refrigerator and pulled out an Ice Tea and a sandwich; "Do you want anything?" 

"Do you have any Root Beer?" Mike asked. 

Henry pulled out a Root Beer and handed it to Mike. He sat back down as he listened to Mike dial Eddie's phone number. 

The dial-tone went through as he put it on speaker. 

Eddie picked up and answered, _"Edward Kaspbrak - How can I help you?"_

"Hey, Eddie. It's Mike from Derry. How are you doing?" 

Eddie took a few seconds as he said, _"Hey, Mike! I'm doing good. How about you?"_

"Yeah, I'm all right..." Henry listened as he took a bite from his turkey sandwich. "I'm calling to let you know that... That Its come back..." 

Eddie was silent for a moment, remembering Winter sleep-walking that night and telling him that It woke up. _"Oh... Um... The clown?"_

Henry and Mike could tell he sounded scared.

"Yeah..." Mike said slowly, "Do you remember your promise? Can you be here tomorrow evening?"

Again, a few seconds went by.

 _"I'll come..."_ he said nervously. 

"Thanks, Eddie..." Mike asked, "I'm trying to track down everyone, and I have everyone's numbers except for Winter's... Would you happen to have her number?" 

_"Uh... I haven't seen her since high school, so no I don't..."_

Mike quickly looked over at Henry. Henry, wanting to speak so badly to him, kept quiet. 

"I thought maybe you would have her number. I asked Bill, Bev, Stan and Richie for her number, and they all said that you and her hang out sometimes, so you would have her number." 

There was silence. 

_"OH! Oh, you said Winter! Sorry, I thought you said Bev!"_

Henry rolled his eyes and shook his head, feeling annoyed and confused.

 _"Yeah, we've seen each other a couple of times..."_ Eddie proceeded to give Mike her phone number, which Mike wrote down. 

Mike looked over to Henry who was whispering to him; "Ask him for her address, and say I..." he pointed to himself, "Say I will go over to pick her up tomorrow." He wanted to go pick her up, but he also wanted to test Eddie's reaction. 

"Hey Eddie, can I get her address? Henry's here with me, and he said he will go pick her up tomorrow..." 

Eddie remained silent. He thought about how he wrote down Winter's address when he went to go get his car fixed. 

After a few moments, there was a car horn and the sound of a car crash. 

Both Mike and Henry's eye went wide and they both jumped up from their seats. Henry didn't expect that to be the result of the question. 

"Eddie, are you okay?!" 

_"Yeah... Yeah... I'm fine!"_ he responded right away. _"Uh... I got to go, but let Henry know I can grab her and bring her. I don't have her address with me... Okay, I really got to go. Bye!"_

Eddie hung up. 

Mike and Henry looked at each other with their eyes wide open over the crash. 

Henry shook off the crash and sat back down at his desk, "He went weird after you brought up Winter." 

Mike nodded as he sat back down and looked at Henry, nodding, "Yep! So weird that he crashed his car. We can't assume that he was lying to you when he saw you in March, though. He's a married man, so that rules out any relationship. Maybe he just ran into her _after_ he saw you." 

Henry sighed, "I'll stick with that for now." 

"I'm going to try calling Winter," Mike said as he dialled her phone number. 

Henry waiting patiently as the dial-tone went through. 

_"Hi. You've reached Winter Callaghan. Leave your name and number, and I will contact you as soon as I can."_

Henry felt his heart filling up at the sound of her voice on her outbound voicemail message. 

Mike hung up before he could leave a message. "I'll try again later. If she doesn't pick up, I'll text her to call me back." 

As the day continued on, Mike had contacted everybody, but Winter was still unreachable. 

It was ten-thirty in the evening. 

Henry was sitting at home reading in his bed, trying to concentrate on his book but feeling worried, because Mike never texted Henry that Winter had gotten back to him. He was hoping she got home okay from the concert. 

When he heard his text message alert go off, he looked at the text from Mike that said: 

_''Got a hold of Winter. She's coming tomorrow.'_

Henry put down his phone feeling relieved... Well, he was relieved that she was okay and spoke with Mike, but he was scared for her safety being here with everything going on. 

As time passed by that evening, Henry found it difficult to turn off his mind and go to sleep. It was already one-thirty in the morning, and he was tossing and turning. He was so excited to see Winter for dinner with the rest of them, but his stomach was hurting with worry for her safety. 

His phone laid on his night-stand, hooked in the charger, when it lit up and pinged with a notification from his messenger app. 

Henry quickly grabbed his phone and opened up the app. 

**Winter Callaghan: _'_** _Hi, Henry. It's me.'_

_____________________

**If you need to re-fresh what happened that same night with Winter and Eddie at the hospital (Part 1 of Chapter 2) then read below:**

"Are you done, Winter?" asked Cathy, one of the RN's working that night.

Winter yawned, "Yep! I'm going to catch the bus back to Castle Rock."

"Jesus... Enjoy that adventure!" she laughed. "I can't believe how insane it's been here tonight. The children's unit is full! So many kids coming from the Canal Days Festival. Some of them have limbs torn right off of them..."

The voice from Winter's memory spoke in her head. She remembered little Lily's voice, _"He ate Georgie's Arm, too..."_

Winter rubbed her eyes, trying to get the voice to go away. "That's messed up. Do they need more staff? I can stay and help." she responded.

"No, you did your twelve hours. Go home," she smiled at her.

She looked back at Cathy and weakly smiled, "Okay... Well, I'll see ya later, Alligator."

"In a while, Crocodile!" she responded.

Winter walked down the hallway in her black scrub pants and her navy blue zip-up sweater. As she continued to walk, her intuition told her to turn her head to one of the hospital rooms that had the door closed.

It was a room that was in her unit, as she had been taking care of patients that had been given the rooms to that particular unit that night.

She noticed the clip-board in the folder rack that hung on the wall beside the door. She blinked at it confused as everyone in that hallway had been discharged, and it was only Cathy and a couple of others RN's units that were now occupied.

Winter picked up the clip-board and looked at the paperwork.

**Name: Henry Bowers**

**Date of Birth: May 3, 1980 (32 years old)**

**Reason For Admission: Suicide Attempt/Alcohol Poisoning**

Winter's breath got caught in her chest and her heart began to race as she read the paperwork. The face of the love of her life that she left four years ago passed through her mind. Not only was her experience from last night still stuck in her head, the last memories flashed in her memory of him talking to ghosts and trying to escape the voices by drinking alcohol.

 _"You have no idea how much I love you, Winter. I can't live in a world without you in it with me..."_ his words kept replaying in her head as she thought about being in that very hospital with Henry by her side.

With anxiety building up in her stomach, she opened the door to the hospital room.

She walked by the first bed that was unoccupied and walked closer to the window to the second bed. She stopped to look in the bed that was unoccupied, as well.

Confused, she looked around the empty room. There was nobody admitted in there.

"Henry?" she called towards the washroom. She knew he wouldn't have been able to walk to the washroom. If he was there, he would have been on life-support.

She wanted to be sure, though.

Winter walked to the closed washroom door and turned the knob.

When she opened the door, Henry's body fell from the ceiling and he had stopped midway as a rope around his neck snapped his neck.

Winter screamed and fell backwards, landing on the floor.

She hyperventilated as she watched Henry's body swing from side to side in between the door frame.

 _'It's not real, Winter! You're dreaming! It's the PTSD! You're just dreaming!'_ she thought to herself as she closed her eyes tightly. _'But why was his name on the clip-board?!'_

Winter slowly opened her eyes.

Henry was gone.

Winter grabbed her inhaler from her pocket and inhaled the medicine into her lungs.

She quickly got back up to her feet and left the empty room. For the second time in the past twenty-four hours, she thought she was going crazy.

Walking back to the RN desk, she could still feel her heart racing in her chest with what she had just seen.

Cathy was still here, working on some patient paperwork. She looked up at Winter, "Are you okay? You look like you seen a ghost..."

Winter's pupils were wide, her face was pale, and she looked traumatized.

"My hall was all discharged, right? There was no new intakes down that hall?" she asked, wanting to know that what she saw was only a dream.

"Yeah, no new patients are being admitted down there until Susan shows up for the night shift..." she nodded, still looking questionably at Winter's face. "Even on the security camera down that hall, the last patient that went in was at 9:15PM, and it shows them leaving at 9:52PM after you stitched them up."

Winter nodded, "Okay..." She sighed, "I'm just really tired. I think I might go in the showers to wake me up before I leave."

Cathy nodded, "I haven't seen anyone go in, so they're all yours."

Winter walked down the hallway towards the showers. She had been in the showers before in that hospital, but not since she was seventeen and suffering from a 107F fever from the infections and Pneumonia she developed in the sewers.

She stepped into the bright shower room. Looking around; She had flashbacks of the hallucinations she had in that shower room when she was a teenager and was sick as a dog. She couldn't help but feel the pinch of fear in her stomach.

Before she took off her clothes for her shower, Winter grabbed her phone to check what she had missed during her shift in the past twelve hours.

**_'Three Missed Calls from Derry, Maine & One Unread Text Message'_ **

"Derry? Who's contacting me from here?" she asked quietly to herself.

**_'Twenty Missed Calls from Eddie Kaspbrak & Seven Unread Text Messages'_ **

"Jesus Christ, Edz! What could be so friggin' important that you're calling me twenty times and texting me seven times from out-of-state while you're working?"

Winter opened up the text messages from Eddie and skimmed through them from oldest to newest.

_9:45AM - 'You know what would have been fun?? If you came with me to New York. Driving people around and conferences has been so boring... How have you been?'_

_10:30AM - 'I know you're probably working, but check this out when you get the chance! Definitely the coolest celebrity I've ever had in the back of my limo! You're going to FLIP OUT!'_

There was a video attached of Eddie in his suit and tie standing beside Leonardo DiCaprio on the sidewalk in front of Kleinfeld.

Winter pressed play.

 _"There we go! It's recording now!"_ Eddie said to the camera as him and Leonardo looked at the screen. _"Before you leave, could you say hi to my best friend, Winter. She loves you!"_

Leonardo waved and smiled, _"Hi, Winter! I like your name! Winter's my favourite season, too! Eddie told me a little about you, and you sound like a wonderful person."_

Winter laughed as she watched the video. "No! Fucking! Way!" she exclaimed.

She continued to watch the video.

Eddie shook Leonardo's hand.

 _"It was nice meeting you, Eddie!"_ Leonardo said to him, _"Give me your card. I'll call you whenever I'm in the Maine area."_

Eddie reached into his suit pocket and smiled at him, _"Thanks for the video, Leo. I appreciate it."_

As Eddie walked back to his limo, he looked into the camera and made a silly face by blowing all the air to one side of his face which made him look like a chipmunk. Then he wiggled his eyebrows individually.

Winter smiled as she watched him make faces in silence.

_"This is why you should have come to New York with me!"_

The video ended.

"Oh, my God!" Winter blushed and smiled at the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio said hi to her.

Once she got herself back together, she continued on with skimming Eddie's messages.

_11:31AM - 'Just got off the phone with Myra yelling at me for an hour. I need to make things right soon and figure out how I'm going to leave her without her trying to destroy my entire business and wipe my bank account dry. I can't deal with this bullshit anymore! February and March were the best months of my life when you and I lived together. I want to go back to that! Fuck all of this!'_

_12:10PM - 'You need to call me back ASAP! I'm getting on a plane to come back to Maine right now! Did Mike call you??? I fucking crashed my car when he called me!'_

"Mike? Mike who?" Winter said out-loud.

_2:01PM - 'Winter, please answer back! Which hospital are you at tonight? I really hope you're not in Derry! I'm going on the plane soon, and I'll be offline for about 7 hours. I'll text you when I land.'_

_9PM - 'Just got off the plane! I'm really fucking worried right now. Text me where you are and I'll come pick you up.'_

_"_ What's going on?" she said out-loud, feeling concerned.

Eddie had just texted her while she was looking at her phone.

_'I drove to Castle Rock Hospital... you're not there. You're in Derry tonight? If you don't answer, I'm just going to drive there anyway.'_

Winter replied back to him, _'Yeah, I'm in Derry tonight. Just got off work. About to take a shower at the hospital. What's going on? PS. Loved the DiCaprio video!!!!'_

As she exited Eddie's texts, she went to the unread message from whoever was trying to call her from Derry.

_1:00PM - 'Hey, Winter. It's Mike Hanlon. Eddie gave me your number. Call me back when you get a chance. Even if it's late when you get this, just call me back. It's urgent.'_

"Mike Hanlon?" Winter said out-loud. She shook her head from the distractions, "I need to shower."

She put her phone on the chair and undressed. She walked over to one of the shower heads and turned on the warm water and began to shampoo her hair.

As she cleaned herself, Eddie was calling her and texting her. Although she didn't know as she was listening to the water hitting the floor tiles, Eddie's newest text read, _'No! Fuck! Don't go into the showers!!! Stay in a public area! I'll be in Derry ASAP! Just stay around people!'_

As Winter showered under the hot water the scars on her stomach began to burn. She quickly looked down at them and saw blood pouring from her stomach as if they were fresh.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she exclaimed in pain and fear as she clutched her stomach.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" screamed a female voice from the shower drain.

Winter jumped at the scream and looked down towards the shower drain where the water and her light red blood was being washed away down into the sewers.

_The Derry sewers!_

Cautiously, Winter got down to her knees and leaned over the drain. She was startled and confused about the voice that just came through.

"Hello?" she said above it.

A few seconds later, the voice responded, "Please help me!"

Winter blinked confused. She felt deja-vu as she heard the girl yell back to her.

"Who's down there?" she asked.

"My name is Winter Callaghan. I've been stuck in the sewer with a clown. It killed two children named George Denbrough and Lily. Please help me! I'm getting sick and I think I might die."

Winter's breath got stuck in her lungs and her eyes went wide with shock. She began to shake and remained quiet.

 _'I remember this! I remember this!'_ Flashbacks of her at seventeen years old yelling up towards one of the drain pipes when a woman spoke into it after she met Ace came rushing back. _'I WAS TALKING TO MYSELF?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!'_ Then it dawned on Winter... This was the night before she was found, exactly fifteen years ago to the day.

"Hello? Please don't leave!" her younger self cried.

Shaking as she stared at the drain, Winter said to her seventeen-year-old self, "Winter, you're going to be okay! You're going to be led out tomorrow morning, and Jim Hopper is going to be there..." She began to cry as she remembered the day she was carried out from the sewers, "And Henry's going to be there!"

_'Henry... The love of my life... I miss you so much... That little teenager in the sewers doesn't realize how haunted the both of you are going to be from the experience, and how it's going to pry the two of you apart in the future.'_

"How do you know this?" she cried.

"Trust me, I just know, okay?" Winter put her hand to her mouth as she shook and cried. "You're really sick, so don't fall asleep! Just stay awake... like how you told Georgie... just sing and don't sleep... And don't blame yourself for Georgie or Lily, okay?"

"Okay..." Seventeen-year-old Winter sobbed.

Winter sat on the shower floor shaking and crying. _'There's no way! There's no possible way I was talking to myself when I was in the sewers!'_

But it's what happened. Winter could never figure out how the woman on the other end of the pipes knew that she was going to be rescued the next day. The realization hit her hard.

As Winter reflected, it dawned on her. "I'm right above the clown's freezer! Oh, my God! I'm standing above Its home!"

Winter got back up to her feet and turned off the water. She grabbed her towel and dried herself off as she walked towards her clothes.

As she put her clothes back on, she looked down to her stomach that had just been bleeding. The scars were healed. They were still there like usual, but they healed.

She grabbed her phone and her duffel bag and left the shower room.

Winter read the last text message from Eddie and decided to call him.

There was only one dial tone before he answered on his bluetooth.

"Winter!" he exclaimed, "I've been so fucking worried!"

"Hey..." Winter said as she walked quickly down the hospital hallway and looked around as if she felt the boogeyman watching her, "Are you going to be here soon? Something real fucking strange is happening here tonight. Kinda like at the concert last night."

Eddie paused for a moment before he asked, "What have you seen?"

Winter squeezed the bridge of her nose as she tried to think of everything, "Well, for one, the kid's unit is full of kids with missing limbs. Then, before I left for my shower, I saw Henry hang himself in a hospital room. Then, during my shower, teenage me was talking to current me from the sewer drain. What's going on, Edz?"

"Fuck!" Eddie exclaimed, "Are you near people, Winter? Please don't be by yourself."

"I'm walking in the hospital, just heading to the waiting room. I'll be around people when I..."

Winter stopped talking as a woman in her seventies with long grey hair walked in front of her. It was the old lady from her dreams. She always wore the same clothes; A pink fitted sweater and black leggings. She had a black jacket on that had _"Derry High"_ written at the back, and she looked like she hadn't showered in years. Winter continued to watch her walk in front silently as she stayed on the phone with Eddie.

"Winter? What happened? Are you still there?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah... Yeah... I'm here..." Winter was distracted and followed the woman from her dreams.

Eddie became concerned, "What's going on?"

"You know that lady I told you about from my night-terrors? The one that's always stuck in the sewers with me?"

"Y-Yeah... The old woman?" Eddie answered nervously.

"She's walking in front of me..."

Eddie began to panic, "I'll be there in a couple of minutes, Winter! Don't follow her!"

The phone had begun to crackle out.

"The phone's cutting out, Edz. What did you say?" she asked.

Eddie kept repeating, "Don't follow her!" But the phone was crackling out and Winter could only hear him say, "Follow her!"

The phone died.

As Eddie continued to drive, he said into his bluetooth after he heard the disconnection, "Winter?!" The phone beeped. He hit his steering wheel, "FUCK!" As he continued to call her back, the signal continued to drop.

When the call dropped, she quickly looked perplexed at her screen that showed there were no signal bars left.

"Dammit!" she whispered to herself. She quickly stuffed her phone in her duffel bag and moved her damp long hair back as she followed the old woman from her dreams.

The old woman continued to walk in front of her, going straight down the hallway. As she walked, she left a trail of sewer water behind her. She was soaking wet.

"Excuse me?" Winter called to the lady.

The woman just continued to walk without paying attention to Winter behind her.

As Winter had her attention on following the woman, a group of nurses came out of a room that was occupied by a man who was crying in hysterics.

"We've got to give this man a sedative!" one of the nurses that Winter never met said to the group as they walked away.

Winter's attention broke from the older woman as she continued to walk silently down the hall to the man sitting up in the bed that the nurses were just tending to.

"WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!" the man with the cuts and bruises cried from the bed, "THE CLOWN ATE MY BOYFRIEND! I WATCHED HIM EAT HIM AND NO ONE IS FUCKING LISTENING TO ME!"

Images of Pennywise flashed through her memory. She remembered the monster with animal-like features and movements haunting her.

_"I am the eater of worlds! I am the eater of children!"_

Winter's face dropped and she felt numb as she walked into the room with the man crying on the bed.

The man looked up from his shaking hands at Winter, "Why won't anyone FUCKING listen to me?!"

She could feel herself shaking as she pulled up a chair and sat herself in front of him. She rested her arms on her thighs and leaned in to show that she was open to listen to the man who was traumatized.

He looked at her face and saw that she looked scared, "Oh, my God! You believe me?! You know what I'm talking about?!"

Winter continued to stare at him, "A clown ate your boyfriend?" she repeated. "What happened? What did It... The clown... look like?"

The man tried to speak calmly, trying his best to keep from crying, "Adrian and I were just at Canal Days. We were on the bridge above the Barrens where a few fuckers beat him up. They threw him into the river..." His lower lip began to quiver as he went on, "When I went closer, I saw him floating to a clown that looked like he was pulling him towards him - like magic!"

Winter placed her hand to her mouth as she began to shake with fear. Her stomach was tying into knots from anxiety and she felt like she was falling as she didn't feel steady with the ground underneath her.

"He picked him up and the clown's face morphed into... into..." he couldn't find the word.

"Like a shark? Mouth full of razor-sharp teeth?" Winter finished for him.

Adrian began to cry again, "I watched him eat my boyfriend right in front of me! Then the Barren's filled up with hundreds of red balloons!"

Winter's eyes went wide and she felt like her sense of self was disappearing. She could feel a range of emotions taking over but she couldn't focus on which emotion was stronger. All the emotions came from fear and trauma. She thought about the night before at the concert, and wondered if that was connected to the clown.

She blinked her eyes tightly, trying to come back to her senses and talk to this traumatized man. "My name's Winter. What's yours?" was the first thing that came out of her.

"Don..." he looked deeply into her eyes, "I see the trauma in your eyes when I talk about it. Are you the only one in this town that believes me?"

Winter quickly got up on her feet and raised her sweater to show Don her three large claw scars on her stomach. "That same thing that killed your boyfriend did this to me when I was seventeen. I was stuck in the sewers with that clown for three days."

Don blinked as he stared at the scars and looked back up at her face. He blinked away more tears as realization hit him, "You're Winter Callaghan..." it dawned on him, "You were in the Maine newspaper for weeks..." He looked at her kind of relieved, "So I'm not going crazy?"

_'Nope! And neither am I...'_

Winter shook her head as she put her sweater back down, "Not at all... And don't let the nurses, the town, the police or anyone make you think that you're crazy! There was only one cop in this dumpster town that believed me. It was Officer Jim Hopper. Unfortunately, he passed away about six years ago..."

"You're a nurse and you believe me..." he said quietly.

Winter looked to the ground as she quickly thought of Officer Jim Hopper and then looked back up at Don, "Officer Hopper told me when I was scared that he wouldn't believe me that there are a lot of sane people in this town with the same insane stories. I'm one of those people. Just know that the cops and the hospital will try to put a label on you as insane, so I just want you to know that everything you told me is off the record..." he continued to stare into her eyes and noticed her pain and sincerity. "If you need to talk, just call me..." she handed him a card with her name and number on it. "I'm so sorry about your boyfriend."

He took the card and wiped a tear from his cheek, "Thank you, Winter. I'm sorry that you had to go through everything that you went through back in '97."

She weakly smiled at him.

The phone in her duffel bag began to vibrate. As Winter walked out of the hospital room, she looked at the caller ID on her phone. It was the same Derry, Maine number calling from earlier -- Mike Hanlon.

"Hello?" she said when she put her phone to her ear. "Mike?"

"Hey, Winter..." His tone was friendly, yet it was terrified too.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I was going to call you back, but I'm just getting out of work and got distracted," she said as she leaned her back against the wall in the hallway.

"No worries, Winter."

 _'This is where you're going to tell me that the clown is back...'_ she thought as she anxiously closed her eyes.

"Winter, It's back..." he said cautiously, "You and Henry never promised like the rest of us did, but I wanted to see if you wanted to help us fight It again? We will be sure to destroy It this time."

"Um..." Hearing him say it made reality hit really hard. "Have you talked to Henry? Is he going?"

"Yeah, he's going to come," Mike said.

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose and thought about seeing Henry after four years. Tears began to build up in her eyes as she kept her eyes closed... She wanted to see him so bad... She wanted the man who she grew up with back, before Jim Hopper, Will Hopper, and Earl Bowers died in a car crash and before the ghosts attached themselves to him and tried to get inside of his head.

"Are you still there, Winter?" Mike asked after she fell silent.

Winter opened her eyes and quickly wiped the tears away, "Yeah, I'll come."

As Winter continued to lean against the wall in the hallway, she noticed Eddie running up the hall, looking in all direction for her until he saw her leaning against the wall. He ran up to her still wearing his work attire and looking stressed out.

She was happy to see him after everything that had happened that night.

Winter wrapped her arm around his shoulders with her other hand still holding the phone to her ear. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

"Sounds good, Winter. I'll text you the details, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good, Mike. I'll see you tomorrow..." she pressed the end button on the phone and wrapped her other arm around Eddie's shoulders.

Winter pressed her face against the side of his neck as he hugged her even tighter.

"What a fucking terrible day! I was having a panic attack the whole way here and went through nearly my whole inhaler!" Edz said into her neck. "You don't have to do this, Winter. You didn't make the promise,"

Winter took a moment to think about it, "You're going, Edz... Henry's going, too... This clown stole my whole life away..."

Eddie unwrapped his arms from her waist and she unwrapped herself from his shoulders. He wasn't sure if he was more worried about the clown or about Henry and her reuniting. He looked at her closely, and Winter could see the worry in his expression, "We need to get out of here."

Winter put her bag over her shoulder as her and Eddie walked down the hallway, "I want to quickly go grab some medical supplies from our inventory room."

"Are you allowed to do that?" Eddie asked as they approached the room with the key-card lock on it. It was tight security to get access to the room, but the windows were huge and all the drugs on the racks could be seen by anyone who walked by.

"Nope!" Winter answered quickly, "But, thankfully there's no cameras guarding the door. I think maybe the security guards are junkies and go in here to steal drugs."

Eddie looked at her surprised and then said sarcastically, "Oh! Great! That's reassuring!"

Winter couldn't help but smile at his sarcasm. Just his facial expressions and things he would say could make her smile.

"Just wait out here and guard. I'll be quick..." she reassuringly smiled at him.

"Yeah... Guard... I can do that..." he said worried with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

Winter could sense how uneasy he felt being in Derry with just the two of them after the news of the clown just broke out. "Hey, Edz..." she grabbed onto his shoulders and smiled at him, "I'll be two seconds. You can even wave to me from the glass windows. We can even play charades while I'm in there."

Eddie laughed at the image of the two of them playing charades in such a stressful situation, "Jesus Christ! How come you can always make me laugh when I'm stressing out?"

Winter smiled and shrugged, "It's a gift, I guess!"

"Uh-Huh!" he expressed with a comical expression, "Your gifts are definitely unique, I'll tell you that much!"

Winter shook her head and giggled. "I'll be a couple of minutes!" She swiped her key-card and went into the drug inventory room. The room wasn't big like a pharmacy's inventory room would be, but it had everything the hospital needed.

She looked around for gauze, pain killers, stitches, needles...

Eddie knocked on the glass window.

Winter looked over at him.

He held up two fingers.

Winter giggled and yelled so he could hear her, "Two words!"

He gave her a thumbs up. He rolled an invisible camera.

"Movie!"

He nodded and smiled.

She continued to glance over at him while she was picking out more supplies that the group would need.

He held up one finger.

"First word!"

She continued to watch Eddie as he began to throw punches at the air, like he was fighting somebody. He pretended to punch himself and dramatically fell to the ground as he continued to make it look like he was beating himself up.

"What the fuck?!" Winter broke out laughing. "It's gotta be Fight Club!"

He gave her a thumbs up and a smile from the ground.

Winter continued to giggle as she picked out more medical supplies. She was happy that Eddie was there to put some light in the stressful situation.

As Eddie waited outside the room, he looked up and down the hallway to make sure no one was going to be walking by soon. He didn't want Winter to lose her job for stealing.

He jumped at the sound of tapping at the glass window.

When Eddie looked over, he was face to face with Stan on the other side of the glass in the inventory room. It was Stan as a kid, looking the way he last remembered him. He looked different, though; His skin was blue, almost like ice. Eddie thought that he looked dead as he stood there, smiling a very toothy smile at Eddie.

"Hey, Speghettiman!" he said very raspy, like it wasn't his voice, "I guess I was one of the two who was supposed to die! Do you want to be the next?"

Eddie began to panic and inhaled from his inhaler.

Stan disappeared.

Eddie looked over to where Winter was and saw her picking more supplies. He became distracted and noticed a tall evil shadow walking over to her.

It was the clown!

Eddie began pounding on the glass with his hand, "WINTER!"

Winter shot her head over to Eddie who was panicking and trying to open the door, but the lock was too secure that he wouldn't be able to open it without a card.

"Edz?" she said nervously, feeling like she was going to cry. She was too scared from his expression to turn her head towards the direction that she could feel a presence.

"WINTER, GET OUT OF THERE!" Eddie yelled.

Winter stood frozen as her lips began to quiver, scared to move or look over to whatever was standing in front of her.

Slowly, she turned her head.

The clown smiled at her standing at seven feet tall, wearing the same colourful clown outfit that she remembered as a kid. Its makeup was the same, and the force coming from It felt stronger than It ever did, as if It became stronger as It slept for the years that passed.

As Winter stood frozen, she looked into Its eyes. She never remembered feeling this scared when she saw the clown before. It gave her the impression that It wanted revenge on her for sedating It in the sewers fifteen years ago. Then the thought dawned on her, why did the clown wake up so much earlier? It's been fifteen years, not twenty-seven...

And then another realization hit her... This was the same presence she felt last night at the stadium... This was Bob Gray.

"FUCK! WINTER!" Eddie panicked. He tried to hit and kick the glass as hard as he could so it would break. He was punching the glass so hard that his knuckles began to bleed.

Winter continued to stare into the clown's eyes as Its pupils began to turn into lights.

The dead lights.

Winter felt hypnotized and she was no longer in control of her actions.

"Fill it up!" the clown directed her.

Winter grabbed a syringe and needle and a vile of Fentanyl. As she continued to look into the clown's dead lights, she pushed the needle threw the lid of the vile and pulled the opioid into the syringe.

Eddie looked up from the window he was trying to break and saw Winter hypnotized with the full syringe in her hand.

"NO!!!" he screamed.

He didn't know what else to do. He wondered what could make the locks unlock without a special key card.

It quickly dawned on him what he needed to do. He ran over just a few feet down the hallway and pushed down on the fire alarm.

The loud alarms sounded off in the hospital.

Eddie ran back over to the supplies room, and was relieved that the door was unlocked.

Winter had tilted her head to the side and was about to stick the syringe into her neck. Eddie ignored the clown directing her what to do and grabbed her and her hand before she killed herself under the clown's orders. He threw the syringe to the floor.

He put his arm around her as he ran her out of the inventory room and walked her down the hall before any nurses, administration, security or doctors came by and found them acting suspiciously. Eddie led her out the first exit door outside to get away from the loud alarms going off in the building.

He put both hands on her shoulders and looked at her as she was beginning to wake up from her trance. "Winter, are you okay? You didn't get the needle in your neck, right?" He brushed his thumb against the side of her neck that she was about to insert the needle into and looked closely for any needle marks.

She shook her head still disoriented, "No... No... I'm fine..."

Eddie continued to look at her with worry in his eyes. He had vaguely remembered scary moments with the clown, but that was by far, the scariest. 

He continued to stare deeply into her eyes.

She stared back into his, "You saved my life..." she said.

Eddie put one hand to her cheek and rubbed her skin with his thumb. He really wanted to say, _"fuck it!"_ and just kiss her there for everyone to see.

As he thought about it, one of the doctors him and Myra knew walked out from the building. It was one of Eddie's specialists named Doctor Clarkson.

"Hi, Eddie!" Doctor Clarkson waved.

Eddie took a step back from Winter and smiled at the doctor and nodded.

"Good thing you're out here and not in there with all the alarms going off. Someone must have pulled it by accident," said the doctor. "How's Myra?" he asked.

Winter rolled her eyes at the mention of the name and looked towards the streets.

Pretending that everything was okay, Eddie faked a smile and said, "Good... She's good."

Later that night, Eddie and Winter had arrived to Winter's home in Castle Rock after driving for nearly two hours.

Winter walked into her apartment with Eddie close behind her. She quickly turned on all the lights and they headed towards her kitchen.

Winter slouched her body over the island in her kitchen and rubbed her face, "Jesus! I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight."

Eddie sat on a barstool at the island and stared at her as she sighed.

She took her hands away from her face and looked at him, "Will you stay the night with me?" She hoped he would.

Eddie's eyes expressed sadness and he looked like he didn't want to give the answer he was going to give her, "You know I can't... When I crashed the company car in New York, the insurance company called my house. Myra knows I'm back in Maine."

Winter got back up from her slouching position and put her attention on a spill on the counter and grabbed a towel to clean it. The thought of Edz manipulating her and her using him dawned on her again. "I hate this, Edz... I feel like a Goddamn home wrecker."

Eddie looked at her seriously, "My home was wrecked before we even ran into each other in January, Winter. I was separating from her when you and I began hanging out together."

_'Here we go again with the same argument...'_

Winter continued to keep her attention on cleaning the counter, "It doesn't even matter if you were separating back then. As of right now, for over a month, I've been _'the other woman',_ the _'side chick', the 'Mistress'._ I'm getting tired of us having an actual relationship behind closed doors, but once we're in public, anyone that knows you and Myra could be watching. I turn from being the best relationship you say you've ever had, and the best sex you've ever had, to being introduced as your best friend, Winter."

Eddie put his hand through his hair and sighed. "You're not a side chick, the other woman, or a mistress, Winter. Myra has me by my balls right now! She's planning to destroy my whole business, which she co-owns, if I bring up separation or divorce again," he said frustrated.

Winter glanced up at him and noticed his frustration, "I'm just saying that I hate having just half of you. I want all of you."

Eddie continued to look at her admiringly, "You will once I make things right... Will I have all of you, though?"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused, but she knew what he was talking about.

"You're still not over Henry. I understand and accept that you'll never love me like you loved him. I just want to know that, when we do make our relationship official, that you'll be over him..." he brought up.

The fact that Winter and Henry will be seeing each other tomorrow didn't help the situation for Eddie.

Winter knew that's what he was going to bring up and he was right.

She sighed, "It's been four years... If he's moved on, then I need to move on. When you were separating back in February and March, you had most of me. We were happy."

He nodded, "I know we were... I want to go back to that..."

"Now I don't even know if that's going to happen with your mom and Myra on your back about staying married. I can't sneak around forever. It makes me feel like shit. Unless you're back from leaving Maine a day early, you basically just fuck me and bail so you're not home too late..." she said sadly. "It makes me feel..." she looked at him, "Like you're manipulating both me and Myra."

Eddie looked at her in disbelief and got up from the bar stool. "Why would you think that? I've been in love with you since I was a kid! It fucking hurts to hear you say that!"

Winter sighed, "Well, it does, Edz! I'm trying my hardest to move on from Henry, and when I think I'm moving on with you there supporting me by coming over, and we confide in each other, It makes me feel so amazing and happy... But, then when I'm alone, and I remember that you're leaving me to go home and be with your wife, I feel like garbage."

_'But I'm using you for sex, so it's a fair-trade, right? Or am I letting Pennywise get to my head?'_

"Hey!" he walked over to her, "I'm going to make things right, okay? I'm going to figure it out so it can be just the two of us!" He placed his hand on her cheek and stroked her chin. "I don't like hearing you call yourself that because of me. I'm trying to figure out how I can do this."

As Winter stared into his eyes with Eddie so close to her, she didn't want to argue about it anymore. All she wanted was to feel again; To feel alive with love and happiness. She spent almost four years numb and depressed. 

She placed her hand on top of his hand that was on her cheek and softly kissed his fingers. She looked at him, "I just want to feel things again, Edz. Some days I feel like I'm still alone, walking around in the sewers, but then you make me feel things I thought I could never feel again since Henry and I broke up. You're like my light out of the darkness..." she paused and stared at him, "But then I remember that you're married... And that just takes over away all the great feelings I get when I'm around you."

He stared lovingly at her, "Fuck, Winter, I'm going to do everything I can to make things right. Just please give me more time."

He kissed her lips passionately. He parted her lips open and snuck his tongue into her mouth and played with her tongue.

She put her hands through his hair and felt herself getting turned on. She brought her leg up to his hip and he pulled it up further as he thrusted his crotch into hers. She could feel the bulge from his boner on her pelvis.

He ran one of his hands up the front of her sweater and squeezed her breast. As he did so, he pushed his waist more into hers.

His cell phone rang in his pocket.

He parted from her and said, "Just ignore it."

Eddie grabbed her waist and picked her up so she was sitting on the island. He zipped down her sweater, pulled it off of her, and then slid her tank top over her head and he placed it on one of the bar stools. He grabbed the side of her head and kissed her passionately again.

His phone began ringing again.

He looked down and sighed, "Fuck!"

Winter spoke annoyed, "You should get it..."

Eddie met her gaze with the same sadness in his eyes. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and answered it, "Hi, Myra."

Winter could hear the female voice from the other end.

_"Eddie, it's past one in the morning! Where are you?"_

"I had to pick up my friend from the hospital."

She sighed, _"You're supposed to be home with me! Because of you, our car insurance is going to go up, the house hasn't been cleaned in a week, laundry isn't done, and the trash hasn't been taken out!"_

Winter thought, ' _Why can't you do most of those things on that list, bitch?'_

"I know! I know! I'm coming home now. I'll take out the trash when I get in!" Eddie looked embarrassed. "Bye, Myra."

_"No, Eddie! Say, 'I love you, Myra!'"_

Eddie shut his eyes tightly and all the wrinkles showed on his forehead. He looked like he was about to explode. Tensely, he said, "I love you, Myra."

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

Winter stared at him as she was still sitting on the kitchen table in just her bra and pants.

They remained in silence until Winter pulled him over to her and put her hands in his hair. He was so embarrassed and ashamed that he continued to look down at the ground. She put her forehead to his, "Hey, Edz..." she said softly. He slowly looked up to her eyes; "Thank you for saving my life tonight. What you did was really heroic."

He put his hands to her waist and kissed her lips a couple of times. He looked at her again, "You're the only person who's ever made me feel like a man."

She softly smiled at him, "I've always seen you as a man, Edz." She kissed his lips again. "You should get going, though."

He sadly nodded, "I guess I should..." he kissed her forehead, "I'll pick you up at around two in the afternoon. We can drive to Derry and meet the others for dinner." He kissed her one last time before grabbing his keys from the counter.

"See you tomorrow," Winter said as he approached the door to leave.

He looked at her, "Try to get some sleep, Winter. I'm so sorry I can't stay."

Once Eddie had left and Winter was left all alone in her apartment, she could feel the emptiness of the place. She quickly looked around and feared that she would be going another night without sleep. 

And now that she was left alone, like usual, her mind drifted to Henry. She thought about the night before again when the clown made her believe that her and Henry were talking in the crowd. That had to have been the meanest trick the clown ever pulled on her. 

As Winter cried while she sat on the island in her kitchen, she grabbed her phone to distract herself. She had barely checked her social media accounts. She never became attached to the social media world. She kept her profile very private and inactive.

For the first time in a long time, she checked her Facebook Messenger.

Her attention was caught right away by an unread message that was there since the night before:

**Henry Bowers:** _'I'm not sure if you're the Winter Callaghan I'm looking for since there are hundreds on here. If you are, I hope you message me back.'_

Winter stared wide-eyed at the message. She realized that he messaged her a day before anyone even knew that the clown was back and that they were all going to meet again. She wondered how long he had been looking for a way to contact her.

Thoughts kept crossing her mind as she read the message and looked at his profile photo: ' _Is he sober now? Is Vic, Belch and Ace still harassing him?'_

She bit her lip and pressed down on her keyboard:

_'Hi, Henry. It's me.'_


	22. Part 22: Peaceful Nights Before The Derry Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALMOST THERE!!!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

Winter sat in her bed with her lamp dimming the room, making her rose-pink-coloured walls look romantic. She had just gotten ready for bed and was going to try to sleep, however after everything that happened that night, she probably was going to toss and turn. 

She grabbed her phone, and her face began to heat up seeing that Henry had messaged her back. Since it was one-forty-five in the morning, she figured he wouldn't see her message until he woke up. 

**Henry Bowers** : _'I hope you made it home from Derry all right after the concert with everything that's going on. I heard Mike talked to you today.'_

Winter smiled at the message. Maybe it was Henry who was at the concert last night and it wasn't Pennywise playing tricks on her, she considered, but he also could have caught the concert on TV. 

Henry waited patiently for Winter to message him back. He had his desk light on and looked through his book a little bit, but all he could think about was Winter messaging him back. 

When his phone pinged, he grabbed it right away. 

**Winter Callaghan:** _'I'm sorry if my message woke you up. Some crazy stuff happened at the venue, but I made it home safe. I hope you're okay living in Derry with all this stuff happening.'_

Henry could feel his heart racing; He couldn't believe after all the work he has been putting into four years of trying to find her had finally paid off. Even though he knew he was going to see her for dinner, her messaging him on messenger made him feel emotional. 

When Winter's phone pinged, she looked at the new message from Henry.

**Henry Bowers:** _'You didn't wake me. I couldn't sleep. If it's not too late for you, did you want to talk on the phone?'_

Winter smiled, feeling her body heat up. She couldn't believe this was really happening. 

**Winter Callaghan:** _'Yeah, you can call me if you would like.'_

She left her phone number for him to call. 

Before Henry hit the call button, he tried to clear his head from all the mental noise caused from finally talking to Winter.

Winter was nervous as she waited for Henry to called. 

When her ringtone went off and showed a Derry, Maine phone number, she took in a deep breath, and then answered the phone. 

"Hello?" she said. 

Once Henry heard her voice, he took a moment to collect himself. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly. He wanted to hold it together for her. 

"Henry?" 

"Hey, Winter," he greeted. 

Winter smiled and could feel her heart melting at his voice. For a moment she didn't know what to say to the man she loved so much and missed for four years. She decided to relax and be herself; "How are you? Is everything okay there in Derry?" 

"Everything's nuts here in Derry, but it's so good to hear your voice." He relaxed against his headboard, finally feeling peaceful that he was talking to her. "I hope I'm not keeping you up too late. I remember you use to go to bed before midnight."

Winter began to smile like a little school girl with a crush; "It's so good to hear your voice too, Henry. Sleep hasn't really been my friend in the past few years, so you're not keeping me from anything."

"You have problems sleeping? Is it the Sleep Paralysis?" 

Winter had a quick thought of lying in bed and seeing Henry hang himself above her bed since she was seventeen, which her mind always created when she was in an episode of Paralysis, but those dreams were something she never told Henry about. She would just hug him like crazy when she woke up from those when they were together. Not like in the past few years where she would have an anxiety attack over it in her washroom. 

"Yeah, a little bit. For a few years now, I get more nightmares about walking around in the sewers..." Winter let out a tiny giggle under her breath, although the thought scared her, "What a coincidence I'm telling you that when we'll probably be going in the sewers sometime in the next few days."

Henry scratched at his five-o'clock shadow as the fear of her going in the sewers crossed his mind. "I figured something like the clown waking up would happen again. I just wish it wasn't this occasion that we would be seeing each other again. I kinda wish I found you sooner." 

Winter thought about what he said, and then asked, "Have you been looking for me for along time?" 

Henry, keeping himself from getting emotional, said, "Since the day you left." 

Winter could feel her stomach filling up with butterflies. She knew he still loved her. 

He continued on, "I tried Facebook before, so many social media websites, so many phonebooks, even the newspapers, too..." Henry weakly smiled, "When you came into my shop last month, I saw you on the security footage. I had literally walked in a minute after you left. I drove all over Derry looking for you that day."

All the work he put into finding her made her tear up. She wiped the tears away quickly.

He said, "I never lost hope, though. I'm glad I found you now instead of never, ya know?"

"Wow, Henry..." she was lost for words. "I had no idea... Your employee told me that you had a date, so I didn't want to mess things up for you by showing up... That's why I left." 

"Yeah, I talked to him about that..." Henry changed his position on his bed and just wanted to talk to her forever. "I had a meeting with a woman I know. She's not even a friend, she's just someone I have meetings with once in a while. I just check in with her is all. Apparently that mean't that I had a date to Craig." 

Winter let out a tiny laugh, laughing at herself for being so worked up over thinking he had moved on when it was only a misunderstanding. 

"What's so funny?" he laughed. Her laugh always made him laugh. 

Winter smiled at her own dumb emotions the past month and shook her head, "It's nothing, really..." she took a moment to reflect the past month, and smiled, "It just really bugged me when it shouldn't have. Like, I kept reminding myself that it had been four years, and the possibility was there, that you could have moved on. I was trying to convince myself that it's fine, but I had problems letting it go, and it just sucked trying to accept it." 

Listening to her, Henry realized that she didn't have to say it, he knew she wasn't ready to say it, but reading through the lines of what she had said made Henry realize that she still loved him. 

"I've never moved on, Winter. I've never wanted to, either." He said honestly. 

Winter pursed her lips as she felt her heart beating faster. 

Henry continued on, "I still read a lot, and sometimes I come across things in some of the books and I think about you. I usually bookmark them so I could go back and read them later." 

Winter smiled, "Like what?" 

Henry looked over to his night-table to see which book he had laying there, "I was reading David Copperfield; I just felt like some literature, and... Let's see..." he began flipping through the pages he had bookmarked. He read out the quote of the book to her from Charles Dickens:

_“'She was more than human to me. She was a Fairy, a Sylph, I don’t know what she was - anything that no one ever saw, and everything that everybody ever wanted. I was swallowed up in an abyss of love in an instant. There was no pausing on the brink; no looking down, or looking back; I was gone, headlong, before I had sense to say a word to her.'”_

Henry continued on as Winter sat on her bed, wishing she could jump through the phone and be with him; "It made me think about when you first came over to my house when we were teenagers, and I was just hypnotized walking over to you to introduce myself. I've never experienced that before in my life, and I haven't since..."

"That's beautiful, Henry..." she pursed her lips, trying to keep herself together. "I remember when we talked for the first time at your place; It was like we just knew each other right away. Like our souls knew each other. We were inseparable at that point." 

As the night continued on, Winter and Henry didn't want to get off the phone with each other. It had been hours flying by of them talking. For the first time in four years, Henry's cheeks hurt from him laughing and smiling over some of the conversations they were having. For Winter, it was the first time in a long time that her mental talk wasn't making her feel emotionally unstable. They were both grounded, peaceful and just wanted to see each other. 

It was five-thirty in the morning, and both Winter and Henry were both laying in their separate beds in their separate towns, laughing in hysterics. 

"God; I remember when my Uncle Will was drilling you like crazy in my living room for hours, trying to get that choreography perfect for that directors audition he had on Broadway..." Henry laughed as he continued, "You just kept giving me that _'Help me'_ look, and I was just annoyed that he was taking up our whole Saturday afternoon together." 

"And it made it worse that he never got a call-back for that audition. All that work we put into it..." Winter began to giggle, "My toes were full of blisters and it felt like there were watermelons in my lungs." 

Henry laughed at the memory. 

Henry sat up in his bed and said, "Hey, um... I know it's late, but do you want me to come over? I mean, I personally would feel better knowing that you're with me during this time with the clown and everything...And I really want to see you." 

Winter wanted to see him so bad, but she looked over to her clock, "I would love it if you came over, but didn't you say you had to be at work for eight? By the time you get here, it will be... like... seven or seven-thirty." 

"Holy shit; I didn't even realize the sun was rising," Henry let out a little laugh, "Jesus!" 

Winter smiled, thinking Henry was adorable, "But, then again, you are the boss at work, so I'm sure there's exceptions if you wanted to show up later to work?" she asked, hoping she could see him as soon as possible. 

"You're right..." Henry said with a laugh, "I am the boss. I make my own rules." 

Winter giggled. 

Henry continued, "But now that I realize it, I'm leaving work early tomorrow for dinner with everyone, so I can't show up late if I'm leaving early..." he frowned, "Kind of a bummer." 

Winter softly smiled, "Just kind of..." she moved hair behind her ear, and said, "At least we still get to see each other tomorrow." 

Henry smiled, "Yeah, except the bummer is the plus seven that will be showing up for dinner, too." 

Winter laughed, "Do you think Mike would be cool if you and me got our own table away from everyone else?" she joked. 

Henry laughed, "I would love to see the look on his face, but yeah, he would probably be pissed." Henry asked, "Do you want me to get you to bring you for dinner? I don't mind leaving a couple of hours earlier."

Winter weakly smiled, "It's fine, Henry. I already have my ride with Eddie. He only lives in the town over from me."

Every time Eddie passed her mind, she kept reminding herself there was no commitment between them, as he was married and fooling around on his wife with her. She had nothing to feel guilty about, and when the time was right, she was going to tell Henry everything that had been going on between her and Eddie. If Henry and her were going to get back together, she wanted to be completely open and honest with him. 

Henry was confused that she said the town over, "He doesn't live in Castle Rock?" he asked, referring to when Eddie told him during coffee that he lived in Castle Rock with his wife. 

"No, he lives in Rumford. It's about twenty minutes from me." 

Henry nodded. He wanted to bring up that he tended to Eddie's car and that they went out for coffee in March, but he wanted to wait until Eddie was with them until he brought it up, since there were a lot of contradicting things being brought up that didn't match what Eddie had told him. 

"Have you met his wife?" Henry asked. 

"No. He talks about her a lot. It depends on his mood if he's talking good about her or bad. The marriage is kind of rocky." Winter quietly reflected before she said, "I think his priorities in life right now are just a bit all over the place." 

Henry nodded, "Do you guys hang out a lot?" 

"Yeah, I guess so. He's my only friend, so... We see each other once or twice a week." 

Eddie's voice from the call earlier the previous day went through his mind: _"Yeah, we've seen each other a couple of times..."_ Which made Henry think that he was trying to hide something. 

"Well, I'll text you throughout the day to make sure you made it to Derry safely..." he went quiet for a moment before he said, "I'm really excited to see you. I've missed you so much."

Winter tiredly smiled, "I can't wait to see you, too, Henry. I've missed you more than you could imagine." 

Henry let out a small smile. He looked at the clock, and said, "I'm probably going to fall asleep on the sofa in my office for most of the day, to be honest." 

"The perks of being the boss," Winter laughed. "I'll probably sleep until Eddie comes to get me." 

"Yeah, you should probably get to bed." Henry softly smiled, not wanting to get off the phone with her. "After all these crazy years, this has been the greatest night." 

Winter smiled, her heart melting at his enthusiasm to see her, "Same here, Henry. I hope you have a good day at work." 

Although they both wanted to end the call with them saying how much they loved each other, they ended it at "bye".

Henry continued on with his day, waiting until he got to work until he got some shut eye. 

Before Winter fell asleep, she wondered how he would react when she told the truth to Henry about Eddie. She also wondered if he was sober now and found a way to get Ace, Belch and Vic to leave him alone. These would be things for them to talk about in person, as it didn't seem like topics to talk about over the phone. 

The both of them couldn't wait to see each other at dinner, but their nerves were definitely playing with them. 


	23. Part 23: Home Is Where The Heart Is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH! MY HEART! <3
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter stood in the cosmetic section at Center Street Drug Store where Eddie and her were picking up their inhaler refills before they went over to dinner. 

As Eddie was dealing with the pharmacist and owner, Norbert Keene, Winter was trying to find a new lip colour that looked nicely with her dark blue camouflage V-top fitted top that was tucked into her black shorts. Even Eddie had noticed that she dressed up more than usual for the dinner, and he figured it was because of Henry, which made him nervous. He didn't complain about it though, as he couldn't stop looking at her in her outfit himself. 

Winter looked down to her phone that had just alerted her that she received a text message. 

**Henry Bowers:** _'I'm at the restaurant now with Mike. Did you guys make it to Derry alright?'_

"That's a nice colour on you."

Winter turned around and was face-to-face with Greta Keene, Norbert's daughter. Winter only had one encounter with her in high school, and that was when Greta was bullying Bev in the washroom. Winter had called her a bitch. That was the first and last time she spoke with her. 

"Thanks," Winter softly smiled, wondering how this encounter was going to go. 

Greta checked her up and down quickly, her eyes landing on Winter's breasts; "Are they real?" 

Uncomfortably, Winter smiled, "Yep! Yep, they are!" 

"They grew nicely. I got mine done over a year ago. It was the best decision of my life," she said as she smacked the gum in her mouth. 

Winter nodded as she glanced quickly at her breasts, "Nice!" 

"Do you want to come out with me for a cigarette? You can have a puff of mine if you don't have any..." 

Winter wondered why this was starting to feel like a day in high school full of peer-pressure.

"No, it's okay. I have bad lungs, so I can't smoke." 

Greta twisted her face in disappointment, "That's shitty... The sewers, right?" 

Winter smiled and nodded, "Yep! They totally messed up my lungs for life."

_'And here I am in Derry to go back into those sewers...'_

"Can you go running? I go running a few times a week. You should come with..." she smacked her gum in a bubble. 

"I'm not really supposed to run for fun... I can do yoga. I do yoga a few times a week," Winter shrugged and half smiled. 

"Cool!" she nodded her curly blond hair, "I'll find you on Facebook and we can plan something."

_'This is going way better than I thought it would...'_

Eddie showed up with the two paper bags with their inhalers. He quickly handed Winter her prescription, and he quickly took an inhale of his own. 

Greta stared at Eddie with disgust as he inhaled from his apparatus. 

"Where did you guys meet?" Greta asked, catching Eddie's attention and he looked at her; "Plenty-Of-Immune-Problems-Dot-Com?" 

_'There's the Greta I remember!'_

"Yeah!" Eddie said with an unamused look, "Ha ha! Very funny!" He turned to Winter, "Let's go." 

As Eddie and Winter proceeded to leave, Greta smiled at Winter and said, "Your cutie from high school was much cooler. He use to rock that leather jacket." 

"Yeah, the jacket from Hell!" Eddie said as he pushed open the door for Winter. 

As Winter walked out, she said with a giggle, "That immune joke she made was pretty good."

"Yeah! Uh-huh!" Eddie said sarcastically, "Hilarious!" 

When Winter and Eddie ran to his car to escape the rain, Winter texted Henry back as Eddie started the car to drive to the restaurant:

**Winter Callaghan:** _'Yep! Just went to pick up our inhalers. On our way to the restaurant now! See you soon!'_

At The Dutchess of Maine, Winter's high school waitressing job, Mike had rented a private section of the restaurant for the reunion. It was only him and Henry who were there. The restaurant had not changed in looks. It was always a vintage pub in the heart of Derry. 

Henry put down his phone after reading the text from Winter. 

"They're on their way..." Henry said to Mike before he took a sip of ice tea and nervously let his eyes wander his surroundings. 

Mike could see how nervous he was; "You nervous?" Although, he already knew the answer to that question. 

Henry rubbed at his five o'clock shadow as he said, "I was in a relationship with her for almost eleven years, and we caught up a bit on the phone last night, but... Fuck..." He rubbed at his forehead. 

Henry had even wore his nicest shirt he had; A black buttoned-up short-sleeved shirt with a dark pair of blue-jeans. It seemed so weird to him to try to impress a woman he had once been in a relationship for eleven years and had been so comfortable around, but he wanted to win Winter back more than anything, and that mean't starting from the beginning. 

"Holy shit! Bowers shaved his head!" came a voice from behind them. 

Henry and Mike turned, seeing the grownup face of Richie Tozier enter the private section.

"Richie!" Mike smiled as he got up from his seat to greet his friend.

Henry got up from his seat and gave Richie a hug, as well. "How's it going, man?" 

"Scared shitless is how I am," He answered. He looked over to Mike anxiously, "What the fuck is going on, Mike?" He then turned to Henry, "And what the fuck, Henry? You and Winter aren't together anymore?" He put his arms in the air as he exclaimed, "What the fuck is going on here?!"

Mike and Henry quickly exchanged looks at Richie's anxious, yet comical, breakdown. 

"We'll wait for the others to come first..." Mike said. 

Henry went over to his spot at the table to take another sip of Ice Tea. Knowing that Winter was going to walk in the restaurant at any moment caused him to feel overwhelmed. 

"Hey, look! It's Bev!" Richie exclaimed as grown-up Beverley Marsh made her way to the table. 

Bev looked at Mike, Henry and Richie individually. "Jesus Christ, how did we all get here?" she asked. Her expression looked scared, and as if she didn't understand, or remember, what type of promise she made when she was a teenager. She remembered her promise, but she didn't remember what it was for.

Mike weakly smiled as he hugged her, "I'll explain it soon." 

Eddie and Winter sat in the parking lot in the pouring rain, wanting to talk before they went in to see their old friends. Winter had been anxious all day; She didn't know how to break it to Eddie that her and Henry talked all night, her stomach was full of butterflies that wanted to explode out of her over seeing Henry for the first time in four years, and she was nervous that somehow hers and Eddie's affair would get exposed before she had a chance to explain it herself to Henry. Then to top it off, Pennywise was back and tried to kill her the night before. She kept reminding herself to take it one step at a time. 

As the both of them watched the rain hitting the windshield and looking at the pub in the distance, Winter brought up, "So... After you left last night, I ended up talking to Henry on the phone for the whole night..." 

Eddie stared blankly at her, "Huh? You were on the phone with Henry?" 

_'Oh, fuck... Oh, fuck...'_ Eddie kept thinking, _'Would Henry bring it up?'_ His anxiety was building up, thinking that Henry may have told Winter that they both went out for coffee in March. _'Henry's going to murder me before the clown does...'_

Winter nodded, "Yeah..."

Eddie slowly looked away out his drivers seat window, and mumbled, "That's not cool..."

"What's not cool, Edz?" Winter sighed, "What's really not cool is that you're cheating on your wife with me when you really have no intensions on leaving her!" 

"Oh, so this is revenge?" Eddie shook his head annoyed, "And you know I want to leave her!"

Winter turned to him, "This is me trying to figure my life out! Trying to figure out what's best for me, because you even say you're not in a place to leave your wife!" 

"Winter, you and me secured our relationship, remember?" he said with his hand in the air, moving it as he spoke. 

Winter looked at him disgruntled and rolled her eyes, "Edz, we did secure our relationship when you were separating from Myra and we were living together. The security of this relationship left when you left the relationship to be with your wife. We have no security! We are just friends with benefits. I don't want to be in a relationship where I'm the other woman forever! I need to look after my own needs, too!"

"How many times do we have to have this conversation? I keep telling you that you're not the _'other woman'_!"

"It doesn't matter if you don't think of me that way!" Winter said back to him, "The fact is that you're married and you're cheating on your wife with another woman! That is what makes me the other woman!" 

They took a couple of seconds to remain quiet and to cool down. 

"So... um..." Eddie began softly, "You know we can't act suspiciously, right?" Eddie said reflectively, "Like, I have to pretend like my marriage is fine..."

Winter looked at him for a moment and nodded, cooling down herself, "I know, Edz... I wouldn't want to out you, or myself, like that." 

Eddie continued to stare at Winter; "Are you going to try to fix things with Henry? Isn't he in a relationship?"

Honestly, Winter answered, "No he's not... It ended up being a misunderstanding..."

Eddie could feel his anxiety going up at the thought of losing Winter.

She continued on, "I don't know yet about _us_ , though..." she said referring to Henry and her, "It depends if he's sober, and what happened with Ace, Vic and Belch... I don't think it would be a good idea to get myself back in the same situation that I ran from if nothing's changed... Even if I do love him..." 

Eddie remained quiet. He knew Henry was sober and that he got rid of the ghosts somehow, so he knew the answer was that she was going to be getting back together with him before she knew it. He lightly hit his steering wheel as he looked around his car, fearing that he was going to lose Winter to Henry. 

Eddie turned to her, "You know that I can take care of you financially, right? I can give you anything you want..." 

Winter looked over at him, shocked that he would use that as his way to keep Winter where he had her; "Edz, I've never wanted a sugar daddy, okay?" She re-thought what she said, "Actually! You're younger than me! That would make you my sugar son!" 

Amused by the name, he repeated, "Your sugar son?" He took a few seconds before he broke out laughing at the name. 

Winter looked at him puzzled, but then began laughing herself; "What?! It's actually a term!" she asked. 

He shook his head as he let out a few more laughs, "Nothing! That was just really good." 

Bill stood on the sidewalk to go into the restaurant. Before he went in to meet his old friends that had already taken the time to chit-chat amongst themselves, he caught eye of Eddie and Winter bickering back and forth in the vehicle parked in the parking lot. 

He stood there, watching the two good friends going at it back and forth. He couldn't help but smile a little bit when Eddie had his chance to speak and his hand would go up and go back and forth every time he spoke when he was trying to explain himself. 

After a couple of minutes, they had stopped arguing and were laughing. 

"What the Hell..."

"Bill!" 

Bill turned around and was face-to-face with a much healthier, muscular and leaner, version of Ben Hanscom. Bill thought that he wouldn't have known who Ben was with his new, healthier, look, but he remembered seeing adult Ben in the audience when Bill and the four others were performing at the Christmas Concert. This was the face he remembered seeing. 

"Oh, my God! Ben!" he smiled and hugged his old friend, "You lo-look amazing! Jesus!" 

Ben laughed, "Thanks! I got into track and field when I went to college. Your stutter is doing better!"

"Hey, take a look at this..." Bill pointed over to Eddie and Winter who were looking a little tense as they sat and talked in the car; "F-First they were arguing like cats and dogs, then they were la-laughing like lunatics, and no-now they look like someone stole their puppy..." 

Ben laughed, "Holy shit... Winter and Eddie... I heard Henry and Winter aren't together anymore?"

Bill looked over at him flabbergasted, "That's what I heard from Mike yesterday. That news seemed so unbelievable. I wo-wonder what this reunion is going to be like for them." 

"Same!" Ben half smiled, wanting to experience all this himself. "Anyway, I'm going to find the others..."

"Cool! I think I'll see what those two are up to and get them to come in," Bill waved off Ben as he headed over to Eddie's vehicle in the light rain. 

Winter looked over to Eddie, "Do you have something small to snack on? I'm starving -" _'And feeling like my stomach is going to explode with anxiety...'_

"Yeah... Here..." He pulled out a pack of walnuts, "These are good." 

Winter took a walnut and began munching on it. 

Bill tapped on the drivers-side window. 

Winter and Eddie looked over and smiled at Bill. 

Eddie rolled down the window and they all said hi to each other happily. 

"Whatchu guys doing?" Bill asked interestingly. 

"Nothing really..." Eddie replied as Winter took another walnut; "Winter's just eating my nuts."

Winter began to choke on a walnut at the comment. 

"Now she's choking on them..." Eddie said quickly as he handed her a bottle of water, which Winter took and gave Eddie a look. 

Bill laughed. 

Eddie turned to Winter, "You all good now?" 

Winter nodded as she took a few more swigs of water. 

Inside, Mike, Bev, Ben, Richie and Henry were all chatting, but it was easy to see that Henry had other things on his mind as he waited for Winter to arrive. He was tense and looked like he was going to throw up. 

"Are you alright?" Mike asked Henry. 

Henry quickly looked at him with an overwhelming expression in his eyes; "Is it cool if you guys meet the others in the lobby and I stay here? Maybe you could get Winter to come see me when she comes in... I feel like I'm going to be a fucking emotional mess when I see her." 

Mike nodded, "It's a good idea. I'll tell her to meet you in here when she comes in." He quickly turned to Bev, Ben and Richie who were having a conversation about how Parrots make cool pets (how they got into that topic, no one knows other than them). "Guys, let's go meet the others in the lobby. Henry wants to be alone with Winter when she gets here." 

Bev smiled at Henry as her, Ben and Richie got up, "Get her back, Henry. This whole you and Winter not being together thing doesn't feel right." 

Richie looked at him, "When you hug her, just put your hand on her ass and give it a nice squeeze. It'll bring back all those good memories for her." 

Henry smiled and shook his head as the rest of them laughed while they walked out of the private section and into the lobby. Bev took a seat as Richie, Ben and Mike remained standing and leaning against the wall. 

Bev shook her head, "What the Hell happened to Henry and Winter? Like, out of all the couples I've ever known, I would have never thought they would ever break up." 

"It's a long story..." Mike weakly smiled, "I'm sure Henry will talk about it soon enough." 

Through the windows, they could see Bill, Eddie and Winter walking up to the front door. Out of all three of them, Winter looked the most nervous to be walking into the building, but did she ever look good! The other two men looked very handsome, as well. 

Before the three of them walked in, Richie quickly said to Bev, Ben and Mike, "I swear if we walk in on them having sex on the table we're all supposed to be eating at, I'm out... or I'm filming it... I don't know which one yet -" Richie quickly smiled wide as the three of them walked into the lobby before they could hear what he was talking about, "HEEEYYY!" 

"Hi, guys!" Bev said to the three of them, getting up to give them a big hug. 

"Wow! You all look so good!" Winter said shyly. She was feeling shy as she didn't know when she was going to see Henry, and the anticipation was making her very anxious. 

At the table, Henry stood up over his seat and tried his best to remain calm. He could feel that she was close by and it was making the butterflies in his stomach do backflips. 

"Hold it together, Bowers... Hold it together..." He whispered to himself before he took a sip of Ice Tea. 

In the lobby, everyone, except Bill and Eddie who didn't know the plan about Winter meeting Henry alone in the private section, softly smiled at her, as Mike said, "Winter, Henry is waiting in the private area if you want to go in and say hi to him." 

That's all it took to make her heart fall into her stomach. She quickly nodded, her cheeks turning pink and her forehead feeling warm. "Thanks, Mike," she weakly smiled. 

As she began to walk away, Eddie was about to follow behind her. 

Richie put his hand up towards Eddie and said, "Not you, Shrimpy. We don't need you to be watching in the corner as Henry takes her doggy-style on the table."

"Wait, what?!" Eddie said to him with his eyes wide. 

Winter didn't hear Richie or Eddie as she walked closer to the private section, feeling every slow second as it passed by. As she walked across the restaurant and looked at all the different faces at the tables she use to serve when she was a teenager, she was in disbelief that she had once worked at this place for nearly a year. This use to be the place Henry would come by to see her and pick her up every night that she worked and took her home. Now, it was fourteen years later, and she was walking in the private section to see him. 

She stood by the opening towards the private table, her heart nearly stopped as she saw Henry standing at the table taking a sip of his drink. She quickly took in his new look with his nearly complete shaven head and the new tattoos he had gotten going up his arms to his elbows. 

Henry had not seen her standing there yet, with his side towards her as he looked down at the table and looked very deep in thought. 

"Henry?" Winter began to walk up to him, her eyes filling with tears.

Henry quickly looked over to the sound of his first, and only, loves soft feminine voice. Before he could take in the sight of the beautiful woman walking up to him, the overwhelming emotions took over as it felt too hard to breathe. He quickly looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose as the tears couldn't stay in and he began to cry.

When Winter approached him, he tightly wrapped his arms around her waist and she tightly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It was the tightest they ever hugged each other as they cried. 

As Richie, Bill, Ben, Eddie, Bev and Mike all waited in the lobby for a good time to walk back over the table, Eddie anxiously said, "We should all probably go over there now."

"Give them a bit longer..." Mike said to Eddie.

"Calm down, Spaghetti Man..." Richie said, "They're probably reacting like how Jack and Rose would have reacted after seeing each other after four years if Jack actually never died on the Titanic."

Eddie pursed his lips at Richie and nodded tensely, "Thanks for summing it up like that..." he said sarcastically, however the group didn't hear the sarcasm. 

Henry held Winter so close as he cried more than he ever had before into the side of her neck, fearing if he let go that he would somehow lose her again. Winter had her forehead pressed against the side of his neck.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Henry kept repeating as he cried into her neck. "I'm so sorry..."

As he kept repeating he was sorry, Winter knew he was referring to all the times he said he was going to quit drinking but never did, and to the last night they saw each other when he threw the bottle at her by accident.

Henry squeezed her even tighter into him as he continued to softly cry out, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Henry... It's okay..." she cried into his neck. The amount of tears and regret that were pouring out of Henry made Winter cry even more, "It's okay..." 

Winter could feel her heart fill up with all the love and memories they had together. She knew she could never feel this type of connection or love for any other man, and she wanted to stay in Henry's arms forever. Henry held her so tight, fearing that she would be gone within a second if he let go of her again.


	24. Part 24: The Writing On The Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
"So, Henry..." Richie began, "Let's talk about your hair - or should I say - no hair?" 

Richie sat beside Winter, and Henry sat across from her. 

Henry looked up from the menu and ran his hand over his stubbles on his head, "It either came to that it was just a mess of bed hair all day, or when I tried to style it, I kept seeing myself as a 1950's greaser..." 

"Oh, shit! Henry Bower's the Greaser!" Bill laughed, sitting between Henry and Eddie, "I-I'm la-laughing, but you were fucking t-terrifying." 

Henry let out a small laugh, "So I just decided to shave it off. Now I always keep it at a number two." 

Every moment Henry looked up at anyone, his eyes always wandered back to Winter. Most of the time, she was looking back at him, returning his gaze. They were like magnets that wanted to stick together, and the magnetic current pulling them together was strong. However, they still had elephants between them that needed to be talked about. 

"Bill, I read some of your books..." Winter smiled brightly at him, "I really liked 'The Demon In The Basement'." 

Bill blushed and smiled back at her (she was always going to be that first girl he ever looked at as a woman), "Th-Thanks, Winter! You sounded amazing at that con-concert." 

"Yeah, you really did," Henry smiled lovingly at her. 

Winter was mesmerized back into Henry's gaze, "Thanks," she sweetly smiled. 

The whole group began praising Winter for her performance. 

"Wait, you guys weren't all in Maine. How did you all see it?" Mike asked from the head of the table. 

"It just turned on my television like a magic trick," Bev said. 

"Same here..." Ben said, "I was watching the news and then the TV switched." 

"I think that's what happened to all of us," Richie.

"It was the turtle," Henry said matter-of-factly before taking a sip from his Ice Tea. 

All seven of them looked over at Henry with wide-eyes; Some of them had just recalled the turtle for the first time in years. 

"You still have that thing?" Richie asked. 

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I'd never get rid of him." 

"I honestly thought we left him in the sewers," Bev. 

"Those fucking sewers..." Ben sighed. "Winter got so sick from the sewers. How are you, Winter?" 

Winter took a sip from her water and looked over to the group who was looking at her. She tried her hardest not to get trapped in Henry's eyes again, because it was so hard to pull herself out of his gaze. 

Henry particularly was the most interested to know how Winter was. 

"I'm doing good..." she said shyly with a smile, "I live on my own in a basement apartment in Castle Rock. I work part-time at Castle Rock General Hospital and on-call at Derry General.."

"Wait, what?" Henry asked shocked. "You work at the hospitals?" 

"I thought you were a Veterinarian?" Bev asked. 

"I went back to college and became an RN. I also work for my landlords. I live with them for free, since I take care of the husbands sick mom, and their reptile and bird aquarium room. Then they pay me to perform at their backyard banquet parties. I'm also studying part-time to become a Doctor." 

"Wow!" Henry couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He was flabbergasted at how much she accomplished after leaving. He felt proud of her, but he wondered if he had held her back for so many years. 

"T-That's exactly what you were mean't to be, Winter!" Bill exclaimed as he clapped his hands. 

"Yeah, you were always _'fixing'_ us," Bev smiled, recalling the times she would patch their wounds. 

"Seriously, if it's not being a singer, then being a nurse or a doctor is definitely the right choice for you!" Mike said happily. 

"Wait..." Richie said, "Reptile and bird room? Backyard banquet parties? Who the fuck are your landlords?"

Winter smiled at him, "I'm not allowed to say." 

"Well, what the fuck! I wanna know!" Richie said comically. 

"Edz knows who they are," she smiled at Eddie as he sat in his spot beside Bill looking glum deep in thought as he stared at Winter. She wanted to pull him into the group and start having a good time and to stop thinking about her and Henry. 

Eddie lightly smiled at Richie, "Non-Disclosure Agreement."

Richie gasped as he put the clues together, "Your landlords are the reason why Celine Dion knows who you are!" He put his hand to his mouth in thought, "Fuck! This is going to be bugging me more than Eddie's mom bugging the pizza guy to just shove the pizza slices up her vagina." 

"Shut up, Fucktard!" Eddie said. 

Richie asked, "Eddie, tell us... How's married life?" 

As Eddie spoke to Richie, Winter and Henry continued to glance at each other from across the table. They both wished it was just the two of them. 

"It's pretty good. I own the business, she co-owns it..."

"Adulthood has turned you so boring," Richie said to him. "Tell me something fucking exciting!" 

The only thing exciting in Eddie's life was that he was seeing Winter behind his wife's back, but that was something he couldn't tell anyone. 

Winter wanted to help Eddie out, "Edz was the one who scored those tickets to the concert." 

Henry sat and listened, but had so many questions for Eddie. He wanted to figure out if he was lying to him or not about not knowing where Winter was in March. This was not the place, and his number one priority was Winter. 

"You don't take your wife out, eh?" Richie said with a sarcastic sad impression. "I imagine it's really difficult to take Jabba-Da-Hut out, especially when she wants food every fifteen minutes." 

Eddie rolled his eyes. 

"Can you guys even have sex?" Richie.

"Yes!" Eddie.

"How do you do it? Does she ride on top of you, and you have to tape a stick on the wall above your head with a Twinkie on it hanging from a string just out of her reach, so every time she reaches for it, she rides your cock back and forth?" Richie. He impersonated Jabba-Da-Hut, "Me want Twinkie! Me must get Twinkie!" 

The whole group laughed. 

"H-Holy shit, Richie!" Bill laughed. 

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Eddie. 

"I do know it! I make a living out of it!" Richie smiled, "I imagine that when you're the one on top, it must feel like you're putting your dick in a big roll of pizza dough!" 

"Jesus Christ..." Henry laughed lightly with his hand to his mouth. 

"Actually, Richie, I bet my sex life is a million times better than yours, and I bet I get more sex than you do!" Eddie exclaimed thinking of his sex life with Winter, "Ha! Ha!" 

Winter looked at Eddie with wide eyes, which Eddie caught once he looked at her. Richie always had a way of getting him worked up. Here in front of everyone, was fifteen year old Richie and Eddie, back at it again. 

"Is that a matter of fact?" Richie slyly smiled, "Get Myra - Myra, right? - Get her on the phone right now, and I want to know what she says about your sex life." 

Before Eddie could answer, Ben spoke up to change the topic, "Okay, guys! I'm getting everyone their first round of drinks!" 

"Bud." Mike.

"Whiskey on ice." Eddie.

"I'll have a Blue." Bev. 

"Scotch on ice for me." Bill.

"Bud, thanks Ben!" Richie. 

"I'll just have a Diet Pepsi, Ben," Winter. 

"Henry?" Ben asked as Henry was still looking down at the menu.

Henry looked up at him, "Nothing for me, thanks. I've been sober for four years." Henry took a sip of his ice tea and glanced at Winter to see her reaction; She just looked at him, not knowing what to say to the great news.

"Oh, shit!" Bill said, "W-We don't h-have to drink if it bothers you, H-Henry." 

Everyone in the group agreed.

Henry shook his head, "No, it's fine, guys! Go ahead. I don't get cravings for it anymore, so it's fine." He looked back up at Winter, who was looking at him thoughtfully. Even though he announced his sobriety to the group, it was mostly Winter he was announcing it to. 

Winter couldn't believe it. He was sober. She was so happy. All she wanted was to talk to him away from the group. Even as teenagers, Henry didn't speak much in the group setting. He always waited until he had time alone with her for him to start opening up. He was so introverted and serious, but he was so comfortable, funny, open and happy when it was just the two of them. 

As the night continued on and the group ate their dinner, they continued to talk and catch up on life. Of course, Bill had become a successful writer with a celebrity wife, Ben was a famous architect, Bev had her own fashion line, and Richie became a famous comedian. Everyone was more interested in Henry, Mike and Winter, who weren't famous in the news like they were. 

"So, you're going to sign, right?" Richie said to Winter, "You're going to tour the world? Actually, I have a better idea! You should open for me on my tour!" He started clapping like an excited five year old; "Holy shit! We should tour together!" 

Eddie rolled his eyes and the rest of the group smiled at Winter's expression as she obviously looked like it wasn't for her. Henry especially admired her down-to-earth, no desire to be rich and famous personality. He always just wanted to settle down with her and have a normal, middle-class life. 

Winter shook her head and laughed, "How would that even work? You're a vulgar comedian --"

"Vulgar?" Richie repeated in a valley-girl voice.

"Yes, vulgar, and you want me to sing classical songs before you come on stage?" She shot him a look, "What would my stage name be? 'Winter The Picnic Table Girl'?"

Richie bursted out laughing, as well as the rest of the group, including Henry. Only Eddie didn't laugh, who swore he would be the one taking that secret to his grave. 

"Winter, I didn't expose any secrets. In Sophomore and Junior year, whoever was having problems in their Sex Ed class, I told them to go out to The Barrens so they could study." 

"Richie! What the fuck!?" Winter exclaimed. 

Henry laughed lightly at her corkiness whenever she exclaimed. She was so perfect. 

Except Eddie, everyone laughed more. 

"See? Even Henry's laughing!" Richie smiled. 

Winter looked over to Henry as he laughed, "I have no shame, at all." He said.

Henry laughing so much made Winter begin to laugh, too. 

"We all saw you guys. We use to play Magic The Gathering on the other side of The Barrens until we knew it was clear for us to walk by," Richie added. 

"Just for the record..." Mike began, "I have no idea what he's talking about."

"Same here," Bev and Ben said. 

"Yeah... Well, it was me, Bill, Eddie and Stan that saw you guys." Richie.

Eddie shot him a look and wondered what taking things to the grave and pinky promises mean't to Richie; "We were supposed to take that to our graves..." he mumbled quietly that no one else heard him. 

Winter quickly looked at Eddie, who had told her that he didn't know what Richie was talking about during his Netflix Special. She could tell that the look on his frowning face mean't that he had lied. 

"Sp-Speaking of Stan... Wh-Where is he?" Bill asked. 

It was the first time that the group realized that Stan was the only one who was missing. It seemed so weird to just realize this now. 

"I'll try calling him later," Mike said as he took his drink. 

"I saw the weirdest thing last night at Derry General last night when I had picked up Winter..." Eddie began; Everyone turned to him, "I saw Stan as he was when he was a kid." 

"Was It the clown?" Mike asked. 

Eddie nodded, "Yeah! Winter was getting medical supplies from the inventory room and I was watching at the other side of the glass. First It was Stan, and then It was the clown. The fucking thing almost killed Winter last night." 

"What?" the whole group looked from Eddie to Winter, especially Henry, who couldn't take his eyes off of her. 

"What happened?" Henry asked. 

Winter explained to the group, but kept getting lost in Henry's concerned eyes but she kept looking at everyone; "The clown trapped me in Its Deadlights, and got me to fill up a needle of Fentanyl and tried to make me inject it in my neck." She quickly looked at Eddie, "But, Edz pulled the fire alarm and saved my life." 

Eddie softly smiled at the recognition. 

"Holy shit!" Richie and Bill exclaimed. 

"Wow..." said Bev and Mike.

Henry looked over at Eddie, and seriously and gratefully, said, "Thanks for doing that, man."

Eddie nodded at him, however he didn't like how Henry made it sound like he did him a favour by saving Winter. 

Henry looked over to Winter, and she was caught in his eyes again. It felt like they were communicating without speaking. Winter knew Henry was telling her that he was scared for her safety. After all these years of not seeing each other, their way of communicating from just a gaze never weakened. Their souls were always trying to communicate together. 

"That fucking clown..." Ben sighed. The memories of the alien in a clown suit flooded back to his mind. "That's why we're here, isn't it?" 

Mike nodded, "We were talking about the turtle earlier to. Remember the magic it had that would protect us and turn us into adults when we were kids? It knew the night It woke up. Henry and I have been trying to figure out theories connected to the turtle."

Henry nodded, "We basically have a turtle club. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday nights," he said jokingly, although he was serious. 

Richie sighed, "Come on, guys! You got us all here to join your little Turtle Cult. There's no such thing as magic, especially magical turtles." 

Everyone looked at him. They were all starting to come to terms with the return of Pennywise, but there was a block in Richie's memory. 

"Winter, you're training to be a doctor - you're into science - tell them there's no such thing as magic!" Richie said. 

"Well..." Winter took a moment to think as everyones eyes were on her, "Before anything became a scientific theory, it was magic. Testing and creating medicine in a lab, or the Medicine Witches who create healing remedies from herbs, before a scientific study or theory was done to all of those medicines, it was just magic. At one time, before looking up at the stars and planets was considered Astronomy and Astrology, it was just magic. We take magical things, study it, create hypothesis and theories, and categorize them, and then the magic turns into science. The origins and roots of every scientific theory is magic."

Winter looked over to Mike, Eddie, Bill and Henry who were the easiest to see right in front of her, and they were all smiling at her adoringly. Her eyes went to Henry's and she could see how much love he had for her. 

Then she turned her head back to Richie who was beside her, and he stared at her like it was definitely not the answer he was looking for. He slowly shook his head, "I shouldn't have asked the girl who use to dress like Stevie Nicks in high school to back me up." 

"I-I kind of want to use wh-what you said in a new b-book," Bill said with his arms folded. 

"Go right ahead!" Winter smiled. She turned her head to look back at Richie who was staring a hole in the side of her head with his intense gaze. "Yes?"

He looked at her for a few moments before he asked, "Who the fuck are your landlords?"

Winter let out a snort and shook her head. 

"So, back to the turtle and the clown!" Eddie said, trying to bring the conversation back. 

"I don't remember much about the clown, but I remember lots of blood..." Bev said, horrified by the memory. 

"The massive typhoon in the sewers is what I sometimes think about a lot," Henry said. He always went back to that memory because he lost Winter in real life, except instead of life tearing them apart, it was a massive wave in the sewers. 

"Th-That wave that came out of nowhere..." Bill elaborated. 

"Shit - guys - you know what I realized?" Ben started, "If Henry wasn't there with us when that wave hit, we would have all drowned." 

"I would have d-died if Winter wasn't there with the F-Fentanyl," Bill said. 

"We re-wrote the prophecy when Henry and Winter came with us..." Mike began, "But we didn't kill It, we sedated It. Now Its back from Its sleep early to continue Its feeding. There's one person in this group that It is especially mad at."

"Who?" Eddie asked. 

Mike looked at Winter. Everyone followed his gaze to Winter. 

"What did I do?" Winter asked with a stunned, but cute, expression. 

"You ruined Its plan when It gave Henry the balloon as a kid. You popped it before he could grab it. Then you were the reason why Henry couldn't fully submit himself to the jacket. You were also the one who came up with the plan to stick the Fentanyl in Its neck. Every plan It created to kill the seven of us was destroyed because of Winter." 

Mike and Henry had already talked about this in private, and it made Henry more worried about her going into the sewers moreso than back in high school. He really didn't want her to go back in the sewers, he wanted her to choose not to come since she never made the promise to come back. He was going to do everything he could to protect her, though. 

"Fuck, guys!" Richie exclaimed as he became nervous, "I say we just get the fuck out of Derry until It goes back to sleep. We can go to Winter's place and just party there. We can pick up some booze - Ice Tea for Henry - and just live our lives and enjoy our friendship. I'm not in the mood to be a meat-pie for Hannibal Lector!"

"Richie, we made a promise!" Mike said. 

"Yeah, well, we're adults, we make lots of promises and don't keep them!" 

"Guys..." Bev said softly over the two adults arguing. 

"We can't live our lives afraid!" Mike.

"I live my life in my own little shell, and I like that fucking shell, okay?" Richie. 

"GUYS!" Bev shouted. 

Everyone turned to Bev. 

She looked at the corner of the room in shock, "There's a wall there now... That's the way out into the restaurant! What happened to the entrance?" 

Everyone blinked as it did appear to be a new wall where there had been no wall so people could walk in and out. They were trapped in a boxed room. 

"What the fuck?" Eddie said, shocked. "How the fuck do we get out?" 

"I-It's a-a-a-a tr-trick!" Bill exclaimed as he got up from his chair. 

From underneath the table, hundreds of red balloons started to float up to the ceiling and the table began to shake. 

"Jesus! What the fuck?!" Ben exclaimed as the rest of them got up from their seats and backed away from the table. 

Henry walked around the table to the other side and grabbed a hold of Winter by her waist. They both looked at the shaking table as he had a protective grip on her. 

Eddie watched Henry going over to protect Winter, and he wished he was the one who went over there to hold onto her. 

The balloons kept coming out from underneath the table. 

Children faces and hands started morphing into the walls, as if children were on the other side, pressing their faces to the wall like a kid pressing their face or hands into the Pin Art toys from the 90's. They were screaming like they were being murdered as the walls began to drip with blood. 

"HOLY SHIT!" Richie exclaimed at the faces in the walls. 

Eddie, Bev, Ben and Richie all huddled together close to the table, fearing to touch the blood on the walls. Mike and Bill stood where they were and cautiously looking around at their surroundings. 

"Oh, my God!" Winter put her hands to her ears and pressed her front into Henry, putting her face down into his shoulder. Out of all the hundreds of kids crying, she could only hear Georgie and Lily. 

Henry put his arms around her as he directed her away from the wall with him. He continued to look around as she pressed her face into his neck. 

Everyone had their hands to their ears to cover the sound of the screams and cries, except for Henry, who held on tight to Winter as he kept looking around the room.

"GO BACK HOME BEFORE YOU DIE!" shouted the familiar voice of Pennywise through the walls. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" 

The blood on the walls began to go separate directions, writing over and over again... 

**'I'LL KILL YOU ALL!'**

Winter kept her eyes tightly closed in the side of Henry's neck. Henry put his head down and put his lips to her ear. He whispered, "It's okay... I've got you..." She began to relax as she focused only on his voice and held onto him tighter, "I'm going to protect you."

For a few moments, Winter could feel like how it was when she was sixteen, being in Henry's arms for one of the first times. As she looked up at her ex-fiance, she could see the sixteen year old Henry in his eyes. She saw the intense love, protectiveness and stubbornness of only wanting Winter to himself, which was something she did find cute about him. Henry could see the girl he fell in love with at such a young age when he looked down into Winter's eyes. He saw the compassion, the girl who pulls his demons out of him, and the girl who saw him as her knight in shining armour that he wanted to protect more than anything. 

As fast as everything appeared, all the tricks were gone. Winter looked away from Henry; The balloons were gone, the walls were back to normal, and the wall that was never supposed to be there in the first place was gone. 

"Are you okay?" Henry asked Winter as she still stood in his arms. 

She looked back at him and nodded, "I'm fine... How about you?" 

"Yeah, I'm okay..." They couldn't take their eyes off of each others. Winter was mesmerized by his piercing blue eyes just like how she was in high school, and Henry couldn't look away from her beautiful complexion and dreamy look in her eyes. Their faces were so close and they just wanted to forget everything and remember what it was like to kiss each other. 

A hand landed on Winter's shoulder, "Are you okay?" 

Winter and Henry looked over to Eddie who was checking up on Winter. Eddie quickly made eye-contact with Henry, but his guilt made Eddie turn away as quick as he looked at him, and just kept his eyes on Winter. 

Winter nodded. "Are you?" 

"Fucking scared shitless..." He was quiet for a moment as he couldn't help feeling like the third wheel, and it made him feel jealous. "I'm going to wash up in the washroom and then maybe we should get going."

Winter nodded. She didn't know where they were all going, but she knew she didn't want to stay at the pub and she wanted alone time with Henry. 

"Eddie..." Henry called to him before he left to the washroom; Eddie turned to look at Henry, and Henry could see that odd behaviour in Eddie again whenever he looked at him; "Mike booked everyone a room in the small mansion, turned hotel, down the street. Just meet everyone there, okay?" 

Eddie nodded, "No problem!" Then he disappeared into the washroom. 

Henry looked at Winter and loved being so close to her, "Let's get out of here." 

"I couldn't agree more," Winter softly smiled at him. 

Henry put his hand on the small of Winter's back as he guided them out of the pub. She remembered he would always put his hand on the centre of her back before they started dating as teenagers. It was the best way Henry could feel like he was getting close to her without breaking any boundaries. 

When they were outside, it was only Bill and Mike standing there in the parking lot. Richie, Ben, and Bev were separated in a group close to Eddie's car talking. 

"Stan's dead," Mike said to Henry and Winter as they approached. 

"What?" Henry asked taken back. "You just talked to him yesterday!" 

"His wife said he killed himself right after getting my call..." Mike said regretfully. 

Winter had her hand over her mouth over the news. All she could think about was the teenager she resuscitated in the sewers after the wave had hit them. Then Will Hopper's words went through Winter's mind; _"Stan, you're the feet in this group. None of you can walk if you don't have any feet."_ How could the group go on with this mission when they are missing their feet? 

"H-He was th-the mo-most sc-scared out of all of u-us th-that spring..." Bill remembered. 

In Winter's head, all she could think to herself was that coming back to try and kill this thing was such a bad idea. 

All four of them remained silent, as well as Richie, Ben and Bev waiting by Eddie's car. Eddie was still in the washroom, and Mike had texted him the news. 

"I'm going to take Bill to the library. I wanna show him some stuff," Mike said solemnly. 

"Yeah, man," Henry said. He turned to Winter, "You okay?" 

Winter slowly nodded, still absorbing the news of Stan's death. "This is all so messed up, Henry," She admitted. 

Henry stared at her lovingly and wishing it was another time that they met up again, instead of during this crisis. He ran his hand down her shoulder soothingly, "I know it is. Do you want to walk to the hotel with me? I left my truck there. It's only a ten minute walk."

Winter softly smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I would like that." 

As Henry and Winter began walking on the dark Main Street in Derry towards the hotel, Eddie had left the washroom after absorbing the news about Stan. He stood in the parking lot, looking around for Winter but didn't see her. 

"Fuck!" he said to himself as he began walking to his car. 

When he got into the drivers side, Richie opened the door to the passenger side. Ben and Bev climbed into the backseats. 

"What?" Eddie looked over at everyone in the car, especially Richie, "I drove Winter here, I think it's only fair that I drive her to the hotel." 

Richie stared at him like he was an idiot, "Okay... Well, she's walking there with Henry right now." 

"Are you serious?" Eddie asked him. 

"Yeah!" Richie exclaimed over-exaggerated at Eddie. 

"Well, fuck! It's only fair that I would have driven her there since I drove us here!" he exclaimed. 

"Why are you being such a little bitch, Eddie?" Richie asked. "Do you still have your little wittle tiny crush on Winter?" He began to kiss the air, mocking Eddie.

"No I don't, and I am not being a little bitch, dickweed!"

Ben and Bev laughed in the backseat. This was typical Richie and Eddie behaviour.

"If it's really bothering you that much, we can wave to Henry's ass while he's pounding her on a table on the way to the hotel," Richie said and made a goofy face as he waved out the window pretending he was waving to Henry and Winter having sex, "Hey guys! Hope you're being safe! Get 'er, Henry! Cream that pie hole!" 

"Fucking Hell..." Eddie muttered under his breath as he began to drive. 

Henry and Winter were close to the hotel as they spoke under the moonlight as they walked. It wasn't raining anymore, but the smell after it rains always was a nice little refresher. 

"I can't believe I'm here with you..." Henry said with a small laugh, "I wish dinner could have ended like two hours ago just so we could have more time just the two of us." 

Winter smiled at him. He always knew how to make her melt just by his words. "You know, Henry, I'm really proud of you for not drinking anymore. You do seem more like your old self before the alcohol. You look healthy... And you look really handsome, too," she teased the last part by pushing him on the shoulder a little bit as she walked closer to him. 

He laughed and blushed; Man, he felt like such a love-sick puppy again, like he was sixteen all over again. 

He looked at her seriously, "I had a lot of motivation to quit." He said as he looked her up and down as they walked. He laughed lightly again, "Jesus... I can't take my eyes off of you."

Winter smiled wide, "Stop, Henry! You're making me blush!" The both of them laughed lightly as they continued walking. "So, what happened to Ace and them?" Winter asked curiously. 

"I got rid of them." 

This made Winter stop in her tracks, "How?" She didn't know how they would have ever disappeared from Henry - They were so attached to him. 

"I killed them off..." he said. He wasn't ready to tell her the truth about his suicide attempt, but it was something he was going to explain to her before going in the sewers. Henry just had no idea how she was going to take it. 

Winter stared into his eyes, not quite understanding what he mean't. The only thoughts that came to mind was that he had stopped drinking and he got rid of the culprits that really started his addictions and the downfall of their relationship. 

She didn't know why she did what she was doing, as she wasn't ready to get so close to Henry until she told him the truth about Eddie. She was so overwhelmed with emotions that she put both of her hands on the back of his head and put her forehead to his as she whispered with tears in her eyes, "I am so proud of you," as she looked deeply into his eyes. 

Henry slid his hand down her side to her waist and closed his eyes, taking in her smell and the love he felt by her words and her touch. He opened his eyes back up to look into her eyes and whispered, "I knew if I did what I needed to do, I would somehow find you again." 

_Honk! Honk!_

Henry and Winter looked towards the road where Eddie's car was driving by them. They quickly saw Richie in the passenger seat waving like a little kid, and Ben and Bev in the back smiling at the two of them. Eddie was the only one in the vehicle who looked stressed out by the two being so close. 

"They always knew how to ruin our perfect moments..." Henry sighed with a small smile. 

"It's like a curse we have or something," Winter joked as they continued on with their small walk to the hotel. 


	25. Part 25: Kids Will Be Kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> PS... NEW HENRY BOWERS FANFIC COMING SOON!!!

  
  
When the eight friends arrived to the hotel that evening, they spent most of the time in the hotel lobby. Since it had been an old mansion back in the early 1900's, the lobby was an old style living room with a built in, self-serve bar. The room was very victorian and romantic. 

Even Eddie had started having a good time, nearly acting like his younger carefree self that just fought with Richie and danced Footloose with Winter. Winter and Eddie had been laughing and joking as if nothing in the past few months between them had happened. They were re-living their teenage-hood and let go of everything that happened in the past four months. 

"Can I get A Sex On The Beach?" Richie asked Winter as he laid his cocktail glass on the bar. Somehow Winter had turned into the bartender that night. It was a nice little refreshment as it took her back to the days she would bartend at The Duchess. 

Winter made Richie the drink and held it away from him; "I've made you five drinks and I haven't gotten a single tip," she joked.

"Oh... You want tips..." Richie said as he thought to himself. "'Make the journey fun...', 'Call your family often...', 'Drink a lot of water...', 'Call your family often...'" 

Winter stared at him, "You already said the last one."

"It's the most important life tip of them all."

Winter continued to stare unenthusiastically at him, and then handed him the drink. 

He smiled at her, "Let me know if you want more tips." 

"I-I can-can't believe the la-last thing Stan told me he wa-wanted to do was get the b-b-band back together..." Bill took a sip from his drink.

Eddie sighed as he took another drink of his whiskey, "Yeah, he would message me on Facebook about doing that, too." 

Henry sat at his chair looking from his ice tea to Winter repeatedly throughout the night. He kept thinking about how much he wanted her back more than anything in the world. 

"Hey, Henry..." Richie began, "I'm so sorry about your dad and your uncles. I wish I knew that they passed away. I would have flown out to the funerals."

Henry looked up to Richie, "It's okay, man." 

"I just can't believe that Mr. Hopper is gone. He was the best teacher." Richie.

"Yeah, we're all really sorry, Henry," Ben said with a small smile. 

Winter looked at Henry, wondering how he was doing aside from working at his shop and concentrating on sticking to a sober life. She had so many questions and had so many things she wanted to talk about with him. 

Mike went up to the bar where Winter stood and asked for another Rum and Coke. When she slid it over to him, she thought about the last shift she worked at The Duchess of Maine in the summer of 1998. 

All these friends in the room with her were really the best friends anyone could ever ask for. 

_"No, guys! Let's see Pleasantville tonight!" Bev said to the group, shouting over the table beside them that was a party of over fifty._

_"No, let's see The Truman Show!" Richie said._

_"Why don't we just read comic books together?" Eddie suggested._

_Richie looked at him, "How about we leave you to read your comics and the rest of us see a movie!"_

_Winter went over to the table and put down all their separate bills._

_"Hey, Winter, do you want to come with us to a movie tonight?" Eddie asked her._

_Winter looked frustrated as she handed everyone their bills. "No... Henry and I are doing some packing tonight."_

_"Oh, right..." Eddie said sadly. He was upset that her and Henry were moving in a few weeks._

_Henry sat at the bar drinking a Pepsi as he waited for Winter to go back behind the bar so they could chat some more. He was reading as he silently waited for her. He was upset, because the table of fifty was giving Winter a hard time and calling her almost every second for another demand._

_"Hot stuff, could you bring us one more pitcher of beer and the bill?" the man at the head of the table asked over his loud guests._

_Henry's eyes scanned up from the book to the guy at the head of the table. He wanted to say something so bad because they were being so rude to her. Winter kept telling him to not say anything incase they would report her to her boss._

_Winter rolled her eyes. She hated that they were calling for her when she was dealing with customers at the other table. She wished they could just wait so she could serve and take care of her other tables._

_"I'll be there in a moment," Winter said to the table as patiently as she could._

_Winter walked away to go behind the bar and started pouring their pitcher and to prepare their bill._

_"Those guys are all assholes," Stan said. "Winter has been running over to them every two seconds, and they're treating her like garbage."_

_"Fucking assholes!" Eddie said._

_"Maybe I should kick their asses. I'm pretty good at Street Fighter," Richie._

_"Y-you're go-good at the v-videogame..." Bill corrected._

_"Yeah, you're not really good at fighting in real life," Mike said._

_Winter was behind the bar, filling up a new pitcher of beer and trying to keep herself calm as she felt very overwhelmed with all the tables and how much attention that one table needed._

_"I swear if they call you hot stuff, or any other names one more time, I'm going to snap," Henry said to her._

_"I think I'm already past snapping..." Winter said as she tried to even out the head of the beer. "I can't keep doing this job. I barely get paid hourly and the tips aren't even worth it."_

_"I know, baby..." Henry sighed as he looked over at the table. "We'll be in Pittsburgh in a few more weeks."_

_Winter quickly went over to the computer and started adjusting their bill and printing it. "Can we just get going tonight?" she joked, feeling very fed-up._

_Henry softly smiled at her, "How about I take you somewhere nice tonight? You can just relax and have someone else serve you."_

_Winter smiled, "That would be amazing!"_

_"WAITRESS!"_

_"For fuck sakes!" Winter mumbled as she grabbed the pitcher and the bill. She weakly smiled at Henry, "Wish me luck that they leave a decent tip."_

_Henry softly smiled at her._

_Winter went over to the table of fifty, put down their pitcher and handed the four-hundred-and-fifty-dollar bill to the guy at the head of the table with the debit machine._

_As he put his pin into the debit machine, he looked up at Winter as she patiently waited; "Let the owner know that this pub is a piece of shit and he should hire new staff. Like, you're hot and everything, but you could have checked on us more or at least showed us a bit more cleavage."_

_Bill, Bev, Ben, Stan, Mike, Richie and Eddie became quiet as they heard the comment and all looked at each other with wide eyes, feeling bad for Winter._

_Henry closed his book and slammed it hard against the bar table and looked at the table with blood pumping through his veins. He was about to go over there and tackle the guy to the ground._

_Winter inhaled through her nose, trying to keep her cool, and said, "Sir, I'm not being rude to you, so please don't be rude to me." She quickly took the machine once it beeped, ripped out his receipt and kept the restaurants receipt. "Have a good day..." she said with tears building behind her eyes as she walked away._

_"What the fuck..." Bev said to the group as they watched Winter walk back to the bar._

_Holding back her tears, Winter went behind the bar and showed Henry the receipt from the table._

_They didn't tip her one cent._

_"You fucking busted your ass for that table, and took their harassment, and they didn't leave you one cent?!" Henry said angrily as he looked over at the table._

_The tears began to roll down her cheeks, "I can't do this job anymore, Henry. I've busted my ass here for a year and my boss and the customers are all shitty."_

_Henry watched her, "Quit." He said seriously, "We're leaving in a few weeks, you've been loyal to your boss since you started and he still doesn't treat you with respect. Just ring-out your tips and quit. You and I can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."_

_Winter listened to him, thinking that she was just about to do what he was suggesting._

_Henry grabbed her hand, "I want to see you happy. I hate seeing you like this and I hate seeing them treating you like this, especially when I can't do anything about it. You have no idea how badly I want to go over there and talk to that table."_

_Eddie asked his friends as they quietly watched Winter, "Why is she crying?"_

_"The table didn't tip her," Stan said._

_Richie shook his head, "What a bunch of fuckers."_

_All seven of them looked over at the table beside them laughing and drinking. They couldn't understand why they would treat Winter so poorly when she was there within a minute every time they called for her and did everything they wanted her to do._

_"Guys..." Ben started, "How much money do we all have?"_

_They all went digging into their pockets and counting up the money they had all together._

_Every time the seven of them, or Henry, dined-in and Winter was their waitress, she always told them not to tip her. She just enjoyed their company and didn't need her friends money._

_Winter tallied up her tips and put her receipt for the day into the cash-register. She opened the door to the kitchen and yelled to the supervisor on duty, "I quit!"_

_Before anyone in the restaurant could say anything, she left the bar and hugged Henry as he sat on the barstool._

_"HEY, WINTER!" Ben yelled, wanting to get the attention of the table beside them._

_Everyone in the pub became quiet and looked over to the seven of them._

_Winter and Henry looked over to them, as well._

_Stan shouted, "SINCE YOU'RE THE BEST SERVER EVER, WE WANTED YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE APPRECIATED!"_

_Richie shouted, towards the table beside them, "DON'T LET ANY TINY DICK MOTHER FUCKERS TRY TO BRING YOU DOWN!"_

_Eddie shouted, "YOU'RE THE SWEETEST PERSON EVER, SO DON'T LET THESE ASSHOLES MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR SPIRIT!"_

_Bev started, "ON BEHALF OF THE FUCKERS BESIDES US..."_

_"H-HERE IS YOUR T-TIP TH-THAT YOU DESERVE!" Bill yelled._

_Mike got up from the table and walked over to Winter who was standing there shocked and feeling overwhelmed with all the love her friends were giving her. He handed her the money and whispered to both her and Henry, "You both are going to want to run."_

_"Huh? Why?" Henry asked as Mike smiled and went back over to the table._

_Richie yelled, "WHAT DO WE SAY TO ASSHOLES!"_

_"FUCK YOU!!!!" All seven of them yelled as they threw their cups of water, pop and juice towards the table beside them._

_"Holy shit!" both Henry and Winter said, staring at the group of fifty that were beginning to freak out over the beverages thrown at them._

_Stan, Bev, Ben, Eddie, Bill, Mike and Richie quickly got up from their seats and ran towards the door._

_"RUN, GUYS!" Bev laughed as they all ran out of the restaurant._

_Winter grabbed Henry's hand and ran towards the door._

_"Wait!" Henry said. He stopped in his tracks and turned around. He was still angry at the guy who was being rude to Winter._

_He walked over to the guy at the head of the table, who was trying to dry himself off with the napkins on the table._

_"Hey, fucker!" Henry said._

_The man looked up to him._

_Henry's fist hit him in the eye and the nose, causing his nose to bleed. The impact was so hard that the man tipped in his chair and fell on the floor._

_Henry smiled as he shook his hand in the air as the impact was really hard on his fist._

_"DON'T EVER DISRESPECT MY GIRLFRIEND AGAIN!" he shouted._

_Winter watched with her mouth open and her hands in front of her mouth._

_Henry went running to her and smiled as he grabbed her hand, "Now we run!"_

_And they ran, eventually catching up to the other seven in The Barrens._

Winter was sitting on her bed, in her hotel room, at two in the morning. She had been taking the stuff she packed out of her duffel bag as she sat on her double-sized bed. Her room was the same style as the other rooms in the house; victorian and romantic. 

She sighed as she sat in her bed, "I can't believe Henry's here and we've barely talked..." she said to herself, sad that they could barely spend any time together. Yet, her heart was aching for him. 

Winter's phone sounded the text alert. 

She picked it up and read it to herself:

 **Eddie Kaspbrak:** _'Just wondering... Should I be worried? Because I'm losing my mind thinking that this is going to be the end of us.'_

Winter blew out some air as she lolled her head back. She had too much on her mind with Henry, the clown and now Eddie was becoming paranoid in his room. 

She dropped her phone on the bed and said to it, "Edz, you're married!" and then put her hands to her face and groaned with frustration. She had such a great time with him and the others in the lobby of the hotel, like when they were teenagers, and now he had to bring this back up when they talked about it in the car. 

**Winter Callaghan:** _'Edz, you're my best friend in this world! PLEASE just let me see what's right for me, and it's been over a month now, and you still haven't mentioned to your wife what you really want.'_

Winter rested her head on her hand as she had her elbow resting on her knee. She was so stressed out with everything. 

**Eddie Kaspbrak:** _'But if I do tell her that I want to leave her, you'll be back with me? In a secured relationship? I won't have to worry about Henry?'_

Winter closed her eyes tightly and could feel the stress becoming worse.

 **Winter Callaghan:** _'Leave your wife because YOU want to leave her, Edz. Don't do it for me. I still need to know if Henry and I are fixable. Can we talk about this when life is back to normal? We both need time to figure out our own lives before we can talk about us.'_

Winter put her phone on the charger and turned the ringer off. She couldn't deal with anymore stress right now. She already felt her stomach was full of butterflies with Henry in the same building as her. 

She began to take off her clothes from the day and put on her jammies to go downstairs to the kitchen to make a tea to calm her nerves. 

Henry was already sitting by himself at the kitchen table. He had a coffee beside him as he tried to read the book he brought with him from home. He couldn't concentrate on reading his book as his mind wouldn't stop thinking about Winter and his nerves were making him anxious. 

On December 31, 2008, Henry woke up in the hospital room from being in a coma for four days after attempting suicide. When he awoke, he was hooked up to a Ventilator. He was calling for Winter, only to remember that he didn't know where she was and that the loss of her and wanting to get Belch, Vic and Ace to go away caused him to do what he did, with the encouragement from the turtle. 

As he was asleep in the coma, he had flashes of Winter; How she was his soulmate, and as long as he was alive in this world, she was his soulmate. But since he died for two minutes, the universe created a ripple in Winter's life making it feel like he died forever, although she didn't know it. This ripple caused events to happen to Winter that wouldn't happen if he were still alive, which he was, and that's why he needed to fix everything between them. He saw lots of images of Winter, him and their own family. That's how life was supposed to be. But without him in this world, he saw Winter in a depression that could have eventually led to her death, and he even saw Eddie and her crossing paths, and it was in her benefit to help her pull through the darkness. These were the details that he had already explained to Mike.

In his coma, as well, he saw Vic, Belch and Ace go back to the sewers. Whatever Pennywise had given Henry when he was a baby, which Bob Gray called his anger, was also given back to the sewers. The force of Henry dying and giving back to Pennywise what It gave him as a baby, was the beginning of It waking up. 

When Henry heard that Winter and Eddie were hanging out, he had his suspicions, but Eddie wouldn't lie to him. Eddie never lied to him, ever. He needed to be sure, though. Henry knew that his death had put his and Winter's life in a parallel universe that was not supposed to exist until he had left this earth. He needed to undo what him and the turtle did. 

All Henry's thoughts made it difficult for him to figure out what to do in that moment.

' _Winter is in her own room, by herself. I need to go check up on her and make sure she's okay. Why am I so nervous to knock on her door and ask her if she needed anything or wanted me to stay with her? We were together for eleven years, yet I am being such a pussy. Of course I'm scared; The last memory she has of me is throwing a bottle at her - There's no way she can just forget something like that... Fuck, I'm a terrible person. No! I need to check up on her! There's a fucking monster in the town and I love her, so I need to know that she is okay.'_

Winter walked into the kitchen to make her tea. She nearly lost her breath when she saw Henry sitting there, deep in thought as he looked down with his hands on his forehead. 

She put her mug down and smiled at him, "Hey, Henry."

Henry looked up at the sound of Winter's voice. Surprised to see her up, he said, "Hey!" His lips curved slowly in a smile as he looked at her smiling at him in her black sleeping shorts and Seinfeld sleeping shirt, "What are you still doing up?" 

She started the kettle, "I was unpacking and thought I needed some tea before bed." 

"Lavender Tea?" 

Winter looked at him surprised that he remembered her favourite night-time tea. "Yeah..." she smiled at him. Before she could get lost in his gaze as she poured the water in her cup and sat across from him at the table, she asked, "Why are you still up?"

Henry wiped his eyes and grabbed his mug, "I just can't sleep. It's just been a crazy day and a lot of crazy stuff." He took a sip from his coffee.

Winter nodded, "That's for sure. It's just surreal doing this again..." She looked down at her mug as she tapped on the glass with her finger tips. 

Henry noticed the chipped black nail polish on her fingernails, and he remembered the hand he grabbed at the concert arena had the chipped black nail polish. He smiled softly knowing it was her that he talked to that night. 

"It's crazy that we didn't think we would be coming back to kill this thing again, because we thought we would be married and have kids," she said softly. 

Henry nodded, feeling sad that what they both wanted didn't happen for them; "I mostly regret that I kept my mind on having a big wedding with family. We should have just gone to a courthouse and got married..." he took a moment to think, "But I guess that wouldn't have changed things, since, you know, the ghosts following me after my dad and uncles funerals would have still happened." 

Winter nodded slowly, "Pretty much... Maybe we always needed to be sure that the clown was actually dead. Maybe then things would have worked out the way we wanted them to." She quietly thought for a moment before she said, "I'm not giving up hope, though." 

Henry softly smiled at her, feeling his stomach fill up with butterflies. He leaned closer to her from the other side of the table, "I never hoped. I always believed it. Hope is when you're not sure if you will be able to get through the fire to your goals. I believe it will still happen, because I am willing to jump over the fire to make those dreams come true." 

Winter closed her eyes quickly and smiled at his words. His words always caused her stresses to melt away and only feel love. She looked at him and moved all her hair to one side of her shoulder, "Just who you are right now brings back so many great memories. I don't think I could tell you how happy and proud I am of you." 

He softly smiled at her, "Do you remember when we first met, at my house when we were sixteen?"

Winter smiled, "That was the second time we met. We met as little kids."

"That's right..." Henry smirked and sat back in his chair, "I was testing you."

"Bullshit you were!" Winter laughed, "That was a really good save, though!" 

Henry laughed and leaned up close to the table again, "No, I totally knew we met as kids." He stared lovingly into her eyes before he grabbed a box that was laying underneath his book, "Actually, I found this when I was clearing out my house from junk..." he opened the box and it was old photographs from the 80's and 90's. He pulled out a photo of a boy at three years old holding onto a three year old girl from behind, wrapping her in his arms protectively. 

It was them. 

"Oh, my God!" Winter put her hand to her mouth in shock at the photo, "I had no idea we had pictures together as kids!" 

"I didn't know it either," Henry smiled. He pulled out another photo of them in jammies in his parents living room then they were teenagers. It looked like it was Christmas time. Henry was holding her from behind as they were laughing about whatever was funny at the time. 

"Wow!" Winter smiled. "In almost all these photos, you're holding me from behind..." She looked over at his face and smiled. She could see the same face of the teenage boy in the photos in his smile across from her, he was just a little older. "It's like you were always my turtle, keeping me safe in your shell." 

Henry loved that. He smiled wide and just wanted to go over to her and pull her into his arms and kiss her; "I never thought of it like that, but you're right." 

Henry quickly looked up above Winter's head as Eddie had walked into the kitchen. He had gone to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but he was also concerned after Winter stopped texting him. 

Winter turned around from the photos and weakly smiled at Eddie. "Hey, Edz." 

"Hey!" he said tiredly. "What are you guys talking about?" 

"Just reflecting on the past," Winter smiled as she looked down at more photos as she flipped through them. 

Henry watched Winter smiling as she looked through the pictures he brought her to see.

"Hey, you know what's better than the past?" Eddie asked before he took a sip from his water. 

Winter and Henry looked at him, waiting for the answer.

"The present." Eddie said very seriously as he looked at Winter.

Winter slowly turned her head towards Henry who was looking at her. After a moment, they both bursted out laughing. 

Eddie rolled his eyes, "Why is that funny?" 

"Because, man..." Henry continued to laugh as he looked from Winter to Eddie, "If you haven't noticed, the present sucks!" Curiously, as he looked at Eddie, he asked, "How's your car doing, Eddie? I saw it outside."

Eddie tensed up and he nodded, "It's good. It's really good. I'm going to bed." 

Eddie left in a hurry, not wanting it to be brought up that he saw Henry in March to get his car fixed. Henry sensed him becoming uncomfortable and he needed to get to the root to why that was. 

Winter looked from Eddie leaving to Henry, not thinking much out of the small conversation. She figured Henry just saw his vehicle and was curious about how it was doing. 

"You know what I wish?" she smiled at him.

Henry returned the smile, "What?" 

"I wish that we could just have a day to ourselves. Just us to catch up and spend the day like the old days." 

Henry smiled some more at her, "Well, I know Mike is planning to take the five of them tomorrow to remember some more from that spring of 1997. Since me and you were mostly together that spring, away from them, you might just have that wish come true." 

Winter smiled more. "Where are you living?" 

"I'm living at my parents house. My mom left it to me to decide to live there or put it up for sale. I was just planning to fix it up and put it on the market, but after I moved back here, I just remembered being a kid in this town and I decided not to leave." 

"Wow!" Winter continued to look at him, "I had no idea that you would be living at your old house. I'd love to see what you did with the place." 

"I'll show you sometime soon." He put his hand to his face as he rested his head and stared lovingly at her, "Why did you come back to Maine but go to a town miles away?" 

Winter blinked as she thought about the question, "I'm not really sure, honestly. I was thinking of moving back here to Derry, but there were too many memories and it made me sad... So I decided to stay close, but go somewhere that there weren't many memories." 

Henry nodded. He stayed to be close to the memories, but the memories made her sad and made her go to a new town. He knew it was because of the ripple he created in the universe. Henry knew he could potentially win Winter back, so he was fine with the memories, but Winter's grief of losing him was as strong as losing someone because they died, and so she needed to get away. 

He asked curiously, "How has your life been in Castle Rock the past few years?" 

Winter looked down to the table and then back at him, "Sad... I've been able to do so much in my life, but I felt empty, like apart of me had died." She stared at him for a moment, so glad to see that he was there with her, "How about you living in Derry?" 

"Lonely... But I've been believing that the loneliness wouldn't last forever." 


	26. Part 26: Canal Days Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

**  
  
Wednesday May 30, 2012 (The Beginning of The Longest Day)**

Henry and Winter were at Chapters Books and Coffee Shop on Main Street. Earlier that day, they spent some time walking around in the mall and chit-chatted a little bit as they drank some sodas. The entire time Henry looked at her beside him. He was still so shocked that the love of his life was with him, walking in the mall beside him in person, after so many years. 

Earlier that day, Mike announced to everyone the plans for the day. Ben, Bill, Bev, Eddie and Richie were all to go with Mike to the clubhouse and then break off individually for the rest of the day. Since The Losers spent all their days together during the spring of 1997, and Henry and Winter spent that spring together while Winter was recovering after getting sick from the sewers, they spent the day together. 

Of course this plan came with Eddie not being sure about it. He was protesting that all of them had to stay together, for safety reasons. Although, he only wanted to know that Winter and Henry weren't going to rekindle their love. 

As Henry and Winter spent time together talking and laughing, they completely forgot about Pennywise, the others, and Henry forgot all about Arnie and his car.

They walked with their coffees to the horror section of the cafe and bookstore. The bookstore was busier than they remembered from back in the 90's, but it was also the Canal Days Festival that week. The festival started on the streets of Main Street with little pop-up markets and continued on into the park up the street where rides, games and venues were set up. 

Winter was looking at some of the books on the shelves as Henry followed beside her. 

Henry put his hand on the centre of Winter's back and smiled as he looked at her, "Do you remember what happened here in this section?" He pointed on the corner of the section, on the floor. 

Winter smiled at him, "This is where we had our first kiss." 

"Yeah!" he laughed lightly, feeling like a teenager in love, "This was also where we first told each other that we loved each other." 

"I remember that," Winter smiled more, feeling her heart fill up. "This spot definitely has many memories." She bit her lower lip, not knowing that it looked seductive, as she thought more of the great memories.

Henry watched her bite her lip and began to smile, "We did not do _that_ here!" 

Winter realized he was watching her bite her lip and began to laugh, "I know that!" 

"That lip bite made me wonder for a second if we really did have a good time here," he joked. 

"Jesus, Henry!" Winter bursted out laughing. 

They left the bookstore together with their coffees as they walked through the crowds on Main Street. The roads were blocked off so festival goers could walk on the streets and pass by the markets and outdoor vendors. There were different types of vendors set up; jewelry, books, arts and crafts, portraits, toys, clothes and body art. 

Henry and Winter walked up the street to the festival in the park. It wasn't the first time they had visited The Canal Days Festival together. The last time they were there was in the summer of 1998. Everything looked the same from the rides and the vendors. The town always tried to add in some new things to do every year. 

Henry and Winter were at the basketball game booth. Henry sometimes played some basketball by himself, or sometimes with Mike, at his house. So when he saw the basketball booth, he really wanted to see how he could do. 

He did a good job as he only missed the basket once. Winter smiled as she clapped and was once again his own personal cheerleader. 

"Which prize do you want?" the guy working the booth asked. 

Henry pointed towards a teddy-bear holding a big heart. "I'll take the one with the heart." 

The man grabbed the bear and handed it to Henry. 

Henry smiled at Winter and gave her the prize, "I won it for you." 

Winter blushed and took the teddy-bear with a smile. She hugged Henry and said, "Thank you! It's so cute." 

When they stopped hugging, Henry ran his hand down her arm and grabbed her hand, interlocking his fingers in-between hers. She closed her fingers around his and stepped closer to him, wanting to be as close as possible to this man she loved so much. They still hadn't broken down that wall yet into a relationship, but they were trying to break it down slowly. They still had things to talk about before they transitioned back into a loving relationship. 

Henry stood close to Winter and pointed at the psychic booth, "Is that the same lady that gave us a reading when we were eighteen?" 

Winter nodded, "Yeah, that's her!" 

"Did you want to get another reading done?" Henry smiled. 

Winter thought about it, "You know, I'd rather be surprised about the future."

Henry nodded and smiled, "Okay. Let's see what else they have here..." they walked through the festival hand-in-hand.

**_ Canal Days 1998 _ **

_"It'll be fun, Henry!" Winter pulled at Henry's hand. It was sunset and they had been at the festival all day. When Winter spotted the psychic, she really wanted to have a reading._

_Henry looked at her amused, "Really? That's what you want to do with our last ten dollars?"_

_Winter nodded excitedly, "Yeah! She can tell us if we're soulmates!"_

_"Winter, I can tell you that we're soulmates! You already know that!"_

_"I know we are, but it's nice to hear it when a psychic says it!" she smiled as she jumped up and down excitedly with his hand in hers._

_Henry laughed at how cute she was when she was excited, "Okay! Okay! Fine!"_

_Henry and Winter ran through all the lights and the crowds at the festival so they would get to the vendor before a line-up started._

_They ran up to the woman dressed all in purple with a whimsical bandana around her head and crystal earrings._

_"Can we get a reading?" Winter asked her with a big smile._

_"Yes, my dear!" the woman said in her Russian accent, "Go inside the tent and have a seat!"_

_Winter and Henry went in the tent and sat at the table where there were tarot cards set up. They sat there together hand-in-hand as they looked around the mystical tent filled with crystals, books, candles and incense burning._

_The psychic sat across from them and asked, "Did you want a tarot card reading, crystal ball, energy reading or palm reading?"_

_Henry and Winter quickly looked at each other. Henry shrugged and left it to Winter to decide._

_"If you two are undecided, I would suggest an energy reading as I can already see so much in your energies," she suggested._

_"What is an energy reading?" Henry asked, being a bit of a skeptic, but he did fight an evil clown with a magical turtle the year before, so he was open to the idea of psychics._

_She talked and expressed what she was saying with her hands, "It's like an aura reading. You both have individual energies, and together your energy is huge."_

_Winter nodded, "Okay, let's do that!"_

_"What are your names?" she asked._

_"He's Henry and I'm Winter."_

_The psychic closed her eyes and cleared her mind from distractions as she tried to tune into Henry and Winter's energy fields. Henry and Winter quickly looked at each other as she stepped into the spirit world in front of them._

_"Okay..." she opened her eyes and looked at Henry and Winter, "You two were born to find each other. You're not only soulmates, but you're also twin-flames. The difference between the two is that soulmates have a deep connection, whether it be permanent or temporary, romantic or friendship. A twin-flame is two individuals in two bodies that share the same soul. Think of it as an upgrade of being soulmates. You are ying-and-yang to each other, like one of you is the sun and the other is the moon."_

_Henry couldn't help but smile as he looked over to Winter and held her hand tighter._

_"Your soulmate connection is permanent and it's romantic. Winter, you are the ying. You're the feminine energy, and Henry needs your energy to stay true to himself and to protect him from his own demons. Henry, you are the yang; The masculine energy. Winter needs you to protect her and to keep her grounded. Without each other, Henry you will feel a void which makes you feel empty. Winter, without Henry, your emotions will be unstable and all over the place; You'd be trying to figure out ways to take the emotional pain away."_

_"So, we're definitely going to get married and have a family?" Henry smiled._

_"There is a new soul between your energies. He or she is created in the energy between the two of you, and when that soul is ready to have a physical body, the both of you will create it..."_

_Henry and Winter looked at each other and smiled lovingly._

_"We have a baby in our aura..." Winter smiled, "That's such a weird thing to say, but it's true."_

_"There is marriage between the two of you, but there are other hurdles in the way that you need to get through before you think about marriage..." The psychic mentioned._

_Henry looked at her and became worried, "What? What do you mean?"_

_"Henry, do you know what Hitch-Hikers are in the spirit world?"_

_"Um..." he thought about it, "Like, people traveling places?"_

_"Kind of..." she put her arms on the table and leaned in, "Hitch-Hikers in the spirit world are souls that don't own a physical body anymore. They've decided not to move on to the next life, so they stay on this earth with us as spirits. Some of these spirits miss living life as a human being, so they attach themselves to someone and hitch-hike with them. You have three very strong Hitch-Hikers attached to your energy. They may have made themselves known before, but right now they are weak, but they are going to continue to build strength before they make themselves known."_

_Henry and Winter stared at the psychic._

_Henry was nervous as he asked, "Do you know their names?"_

_"No... But, I think you do..." she said._

_Henry did. He knew it would have been Vic, Belch and Ace. As far as him and Winter were aware, though, they killed the clown, which mean't the three of them wouldn't bother him anymore. At least, that's what they thought._

_"Before the two of you get married, figure out a way to cleanse yourself to rid the Hitch-Hikers. All three of them have negative energy and when they become stronger, they could become dangerous."_

_Winter stared at Henry; She knew the three Hitch-Hikers that the psychic was talking about, too._

_"Winter, do you know what a Spirit Cord is?"_

_Winter shook her head, "No, I don't."_

_"Well, both you and Henry have Spirit Cords connecting to each other from all of your seven chakras. You've had these Spirit Cords connected to each other since you were both born, and probably in the spirit world before you were born. It means that you share and receive each other's energy, which would make sense since the two of you are a couple, your soulmates and twin-flames. You, however, have another Spirit Cord in your aura coming from an unknown source. This could be a close friend or a family member that wants to remain close to you. It looks like it's a friend of yours who might have a crush on you."_

_Henry looked over at Winter, "Who the Hell put their cord in your aura?"_

_Winter's mouth fell open, "I never thought I'd ever hear you say that..." she said comically._

_The psychic giggled at Henry's reaction. She had never had anyone react or say something like that before in her tent. "They're very common, so I wouldn't worry about it. It could be a friend of yours that just really looks up to you and cares for you."_

_"See, baby?" Winter smiled at Henry, "It's not big deal. They're common."_

Winter and Henry choose to try out the new shooting range set-up at the Canal Days Festival. It had been Henry's choice. He got excited about it once he saw the set up in the building. 

Winter stood close behind Henry as he shot the target in the distance, and he got it right in the centre of the target. 

She looked at him surprised, "I didn't know you could shoot!" 

Henry smiled at her, "Uncle Jim would let me shoot with his guns at bottles and targets all the time when we went to the cottage when I was a kid."

"I just learned something new about you," she smiled. 

"You ready? It's your turn." 

Winter stared at him, "No." 

Henry laughed lightly, "Trust me, it's not scary." 

"I'm not scared of shooting, I'm scared the pressure from the shot is going to make the gun hit me in the face." She looked at him as he continued to smile at her enthusiastically, "You know with my luck, and weapons, it could happen." 

"It's not going to pistol whip you in the face. Trust me." He handed her the gun, which she took very nervously. 

Winter stood in his spot where he was standing and he stood behind her. He noticed her stance and form right away and wanted to help her out. 

Henry said, "Part your feet hip-distance apart, and straighten out your arms..." He pressed his front softly behind her and straightened her arms out for her as he ran his hands from her shoulders to her hands.

Winter felt a shiver go down her spine with how close Henry was to her. 

Henry placed his hands right on top of hers as she held the handle of the gun. He placed his head just above her left shoulder, with the side of his head nearly touching hers. 

"Is this okay?" he asked. 

She loved it. 

"Yeah, I really love it a lot!" she said by accident. It was what she was thinking, but she didn't mean to say it out-loud, "I mean..." she bursted out laughing, and so did Henry as he looked down and laughed knowing she didn't mean to say that out-loud, "That was word vomit. It-- That wasn't -- um... I'm just going to stop talking now." 

Henry laughed more, and so did Winter as she turned red. 

"It's okay..." he smiled at the side of her face as he watched her, "I really love it a lot, too."

Winter's lips pursed in a smile as butterflies filled up her stomach. 

"Don't worry, the gun is secured. Now you've got to close one eye and try to get your target in view and concentrate on your breathing..." he inched up a little closer behind her and helped her aim it to the target as she was about to pull the trigger. 

Winter pulled the trigger and the loud gun-shot echoed in the room. The bullet hit near the centre of the target, but it was close. It was Henry's help that made her almost hit the target, not her own skills. 

"Good job," Henry smiled as he looked at the side of her face. 

Winter could feel Henry's breath on her cheek. He slowly ran his hands down her arms as she began to relax and put them down a little bit. She was completely wrapped in his arms. 

She turned her head and looked at his face, seeing in his eyes the man she fell in love with and loved so very much. 

As they stared lovingly into each others eyes, they slowly inched their faces closer for a kiss. 

Before their lips touched, Winter accidentally pressed down on the trigger and the gun shot towards the wall where the target was. They both jumped a little bit at the sound. 

"Jesus, maybe you shouldn't play with guns," Henry joked as he looked around the building to see if anyone looked over. 

They both laughed lightly as they put the gun down on the table in front of them. Henry grabbed her hand, and walked towards the exit. 

Henry looked at the guy running the venue, and laughed, "Sorry. That was my fault." 

They both bursted out laughing more at the look on the mans face as they walked out of the building. 

As Henry and Winter continued to spend the day with each other, Eddie had spent the rest of his day dealing with cringe-worthy flashbacks from that one day at the library in 1997...


	27. Part 27: The Wendigo & The Library 1997

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Eddie was walking through a part of The Barrens that he was unfamiliar with. He had just finished up with Mike, Ben, Bev, Bill and Richie at their old clubhouse. 

Eddie had forgotten to clean up the clubhouse after he took Winter on the date there over a month ago. When they all went under, all of them wondered why there were Christmas lights hung up and a blanket with food dishes and pillows on the ground. Eddie had just kept quiet and shrugged. While he was down there, he grabbed the letter he wrote to Winter when he was fifteen that he had read to Winter that night in the clubhouse. He shoved it in his pocket and continued on with the group. 

Eddie sighed as he looked around the forest. He use to know The Barrens inside and out, but age has made him forget. 

He looked at his phone to see if Winter had contacted him, which she didn't. He was really nervous about her finding out that he had coffee with Henry back in March, and he was nervous that he was going to lose her. No matter how much she thought of herself as the other woman in his marriage, she was still wrong. He always cared about her, but her love for Henry made her blind to that. 

"HELP ME!" 

Eddie stopped in his tracks when he heard a woman's voice screaming for help.

"HELP ME!" 

It sounded like Myra. 

"Myra?" Eddie said to himself as he went running to the sound of her voice. 

Just a few minutes away, he saw Myra strapped down to a picnic table with sheets hanging between her and something else. 

"EDDIE, HELP ME!" she screamed in fear. 

"What the fuck are you doing here, Myra?!" Eddie asked nervously as he went over to her and started undoing the tight straps. They were on so tight that they weren't nudging. He had to take a moment to inhale his medicine.

There was movement in the distance that sounded like an animal rustling through the forest. It roared loudly and he immediately became scared. 

"What the fuck was that?" he asked, as he scanned his surroundings. 

"It's the Wendigo, Eddie!" Myra said scared. "It wants to eat me!" 

The Wendigo was a mythological creature that lived in the woods. It was a monster with animal and human characteristics. It was a creature that had cannibal-like needs and could drive a person crazy with guilt and the need to eat human flesh. 

The sheet that was beside Myra fell to the ground, and there was another picnic table, but this one was occupied with Eddie's mom, Sonia Kaspbrak. She was strapped even tighter to the table. 

"Mommy?" Eddie said with his eyes wide open. 

"EDDIE, GET US OUT OF HERE!" Sonia Kaspbrak screamed in fear. 

The sound of the creature was coming closer, and it was running and roaring. 

"FUCK!" Eddie shouted. 

He kept trying to undo Myra's knots as she yelled at him, "COME ON, EDDIE! BE A MAN! UNDO THESE STRAPS!" 

He ran over to his mom to see if he could undo those straps, but they were even tighter. 

"Eddie, I'm sick! I need to see a doctor! You're sick, too, and you need us to help you regain your health!" his mom said. 

Eddie kept trying to undo the knots as he began to sweat with fear.

But then there was another sheet that fell to the ground that was hung-up beside his mom, and there was Winter knotted and strapped to a picnic table.

"No..." Eddie stared at Winter laying there. 

Winter was nudging as she tried to undo the knots herself. She turned her head and looked at Eddie, "Edz! Edz, how did I get here?! I was at Canal Days with Henry, and then I was taken! What the fuck is going on?!" 

Eddie stared at the three women as the sounds of the Wendigo was coming nearer. He didn't know who to go to. 

"Eddie!" Myra started, "I have someone I'm texting every hour so they know I'm safe! If I don't text her in the next fifteen minutes, she's going to think you killed me and you'll be going to jail and you'll lose everything!" 

"Oh, for fuck sakes!" Winter sighed, "Are you apart of the Mafia, or the Cartel, or something?" 

"Eddie!" his mom started, "I raised you and made you the person you are today. You have to save me and Myra! Don't even think about saving that sewage garbage!" 

"You really are a bitch!" Winter said to Sonia. She looked over to Eddie, who was looking at all of them, not knowing what to do, "I'm gonna die." 

"Eddie, I'm your wife!" Myra said. "I will destroy you if you don't save me!" 

The sound of the Wendigo was coming closer, and it sounded hungry. 

Eddie quickly went to his wife and tried to look at her straps. He went to her out of fear that she could have destroyed him even if she was dead. 

"Be a fucking man, Eddie! It's just knots!" she yelled at him. 

"What's wrong with you?!" Winter shouted at Myra, "Edz is a man! You should fucking treat him like one!" 

"Fuck!" Eddie mumbled as his palms were so sweaty that he couldn't figure out how to undo the knots. 

_**ROAR!!!** _

The Wendigo was right behind them, running up to the picnic tables. It resembled a deformed moose with antlers, but It ran like a human except It had long arms that dragged behind It on the ground. It was eight-feet tall and It smelled like death. 

Eddie's eyes went wide as he watched It running up to them like a hungry animal. 

"I'm sorry, Myra!" 

He let go of Myra's knots and ran over to Winter in a hurry. 

Winter looked at him calmly as he looked like he was really scared that he wouldn't be able to save her. 

"Edz, it's okay... It's okay if you can't save me..." she said calmly as the Wendigo jumped onto Sonia and began to tare her stomach open as she screamed. 

Eddie's eyes were wide with fear as he listened to his mom being ripped open and screaming. He could hear Myra screaming for Eddie beside his mom as she was being killed. 

"Edz... Edz, look at me..." Winter said calmly, "Just concentrate on the knots, okay?" 

Eddie looked into Winter's eyes and tried to remain calm, without wasting time by grabbing his inhaler. He began to loosen her knots. 

The screams of Myra could be heard from miles as the Wendigo jumped on her and began to feed on her. 

Winter was crying at the sound of the screams and knowing she was next. 

"I got it! I got it!" Eddie said as he undid the knots and pulled Winter up from the picnic table. 

He grabbed her hand and they began to run as the creature continued to feed. 

They had ran for a long time before they stopped. 

They both grabbed their inhalers and inhaled their medicine. 

"What the fuck happened?! How did you get there?!" Eddie asked, still in shock by everything that happened. 

Winter shook her head, "I don't know, Edz. Thank you for saving me!" 

She went over to him and kissed him passionately, grabbing a hold of the back of his head and pressing his lips onto hers. 

"I love you, Edz!" she said to him as she looked at him like she was craving him, all of him, "I love you so much! I shouldn't have been thinking about Henry when we were together. I want to be with you! I love you so much!" 

It was the first time she ever told him that she loves him, and it hit Eddie like a thousand knives through his stomach. He was so in love with her. 

Eddie, still shaken up, continued to smile at her, "I love you, too, Winter. I've loved you for such a long time." 

They kissed again, and he lightly pushed Winter up to a tree as he continued to kiss her. 

Eddie pulled away and ripped off his wedding ring; "I'm done with Myra, okay? I'm done with her! I want you and only you!" he threw his wedding ring towards the woods. 

Winter looked at him with love in her eyes, "Oh, my God, Edz! It's just going to be you and me?" 

Eddie nodded as he went back up to her, "Just you and me!" He pressed his lips back against hers and lifted one of her legs around his waist as he pressed his hard wood against her crotch. "God, I love you! I love you so much!" he said in-between kisses. 

Eddie pressed his lips to Winter's neck and kissed her over and over again. 

"Do you want to float, Edz?" Winter moaned. 

Eddie stopped kissing her neck and he immediately became scared. 

"W-What?" he stuttered. 

"I want you to float with me." 

It was the clowns voice. 

Eddie backed away, and It wasn't Winter anymore, It was the clown. He began to hyperventilate and he took an inhale of his medicine. 

The clown laughed hysterically at him, like it was the funniest thing It ever did to anyone in Its existence. 

"Poor little Eddie can never catch his break!" The clown laughed and pointed at him. 

Eddie fell to his knees with all the emotions he felt making his knees buckle in sadness. It had been years since he cried, but he broke down right there in the forest. As he cried, he dry-heaved from having kissed Pennywise. 

When he looked back up to where the clown was standing, It was gone. It was just him in the forest. He felt like his heart was ripped right from his chest and stomped on. 

"WHY DID YOU NEED TO DO THIS TO ME AGAIN, YOU MOTHER FUCKER?!" Eddie screamed at the ground as he threw a rock in the distance. "Why did you have to do this again?" he cried as he sat on the ground with his hands to his face as he had flashbacks from the library. 

**_ Wednesday June 18, 1997 _ **

_Eddie sat at a table in The Derry Library later that afternoon after being in the hospital getting his cast on his broken wrist. He had visited Winter in the hospital and had a talk with her before his mom came in the room and told him they had to go. As he was in the library, waiting for Bill, Richie and Stan to show up so they could study together, he was writing a letter for Winter._

**' _You'll probably never read this. I just needed to write it all down._**

_**Your friend, Eddie Kaspbrak, AKA Your Edz'** _

_Eddie stared at the letter he wrote her and sighed. He knew his feelings for Winter were never going to be confessed and it hurt to go day-by-day knowing that she was happy with Henry... But at least she was happy._

_**THUD!** _

_Eddie turned around in his seat to see what made the noise._

_He saw Winter walk behind one of the book shelves after picking up the book she had dropped._

_Eddie stared at the shelf Winter had disappeared behind. He was confused because she was still in the hospital only three hours ago._

_He got up from the table, stuffed the letter he wrote into his pocket and walked towards where Winter disappeared too._

_When Eddie saw her, looking at books on the shelf, he smiled to himself. She was so beautiful in her knee-high pink summer dress and her hair down, grown to her armpits. She was beautiful when he saw her earlier in the hospital, but she didn't look sick anymore; She was glowing._

_"Winter?"_

_Winter looked over to Eddie and smiled at him, "Well, hey there!"_

_He walked up closer to her, "Why are you out of the hospital?"_

_"I was discharged an hour ago," she smiled._

_"But you were still so sick, and now you look so healthy..."_

_Winter shrugged, "The power of medicine, right?"_

_Eddie smiled as he looked at her, "Yeah, I guess so..." He admired how glowing she was, "Why would you come to the library right after being discharged?"_

_She blew out some air in stress, "I have so much catching up to do now with school."_

_Eddie nodded, "Yeah, that's true."_

_Winter dropped another book in her pile to the floor. She was holding about five books in her arms._

_Eddie went to grab the book for her, "If you need help studying, I can help you..." he picked up the book and read the cover._

_**'100 Wild Sex Positions'** _

_Eddie's eyes went wide and quickly handed it back to her. He nervously laughed as he grabbed his inhaler and inhaled a lung-full of medicine as he thought about her naked on the picnic table._

_Winter smiled at him as she took the book from him, "Thanks. I appreciate it that you say you'd help me. Maybe we should try it sometime..."_

_Eddie eyed the book in her hand, "Try what?"_

_"Intercourse."_

_Eddie quickly looked at her with his eyes wide, his heart pounding and movement happening in his crotch._

_"Wh-Wh-What?" he stuttered. He took another lung-full of medicine._

_"You know..." she smiled, "Sex..." She walked up a bit closer to him, "_ _You and me."_

_"O-O-O-Oh..." he stuttered again. He was blushing as she walked up closer to him. He inhaled her smell and she smelled like roses in a strawberry orchid. "Um..." he laughed nervously, and put his elbow up to a few books on the shelf so he could lean into them to try and look cool, but he ended up pushing them all to the ground. He quickly looked at the books on the ground, and then back up to her, "What about Henry?"_

_Winter looked around like she didn't want to talk about it, but she said, "You were right... He has been acting differently since he got that new jacket. He kind of makes me nervous, like he wants to kill you guys..."_

_Eddie just stared at her, his dick in his shorts had become hard and he felt flustered._

_She smiled back at Eddie, "You know, Edz..." she began to walk closer to him, causing Eddie to back away a little as he was nervous, "I've seen you watching Henry and I at the picnic table."_

_Eddie turned red as he backed into a table, "You saw me?"_

_"Yeah..." she smiled, "I know you've watched more than once. Why do you think I keep suggesting to Henry that we should go back to that table? I see you there, looking at my body like I'm a Goddess, and I get so turned on that I just squirt everywhere."_

_"Holy shit!" Eddie took another lung-full of medicine. "I never thought you saw me that way."_

_"Why? Just because I'm seventeen and you're fifteen?" she asked, "You know I see you more of a man than how you see yourself."_

_Eddie began to smile, and he wanted to be close to her too. She was turning him on so much._

_"But..." she sighed as she looked to the side, "Your mom wouldn't approve of me. She just sees me as 'sewer garbage'... I'm nothing but a dirty girl to her."_

_"I don't care what my mom says. My mom doesn't control who I want to be with," he said quickly._

_She looked at him; Her eyes were so flirty and it was causing him to get even more turned on, "Are you sure about that, Edz? I think your mom controls everything you do."_

_Eddie shook his head, "Ever since you and me became close, I cherish your opinion and ideas before I consider anything my mom says. You care for me differently than she does. I would choose you over anyone else."_

_Winter looked into his eyes and smiled adoringly. "You really mean that?"_

_Eddie nodded, "Yeah! Besides, I don't go home early because my mom wants me home, it's because I have to shave my beard." Eddie ran his hand against his smooth cheek._

_Winter let out a giggle and smiled at him admiringly, "You're so funny."_

_Eddie smiled, liking the feeling he got whenever he made Winter giggle. He admired her so much and this had been the best moment of his life, at least, that's what he thought it was._

_"I knew that it was you that led Stan, Richie and Bev to the sewer building that day. No one else thought I would have gone out that far, so no one checked, but you did... You saved my life, Edz..." she said gratefully. "And then you held my hand as I was going to the ambulance. You know how special that is to me? I knew at that moment that I love you."_

_Eddie's heart began to pound and he took another inhale from his puffer, "I love you, too. I wanted to make sure you were safe, and I tried so hard to make sure you were found."_

_"I want you to know how grateful I am that you did all that..." Winter unzipped the back of her dress, and her dress fell down to her feet. Her naked body was beautiful; Her perky tits, her slender frame, her milky smooth skin, and her amazing booty._

_Eddie stared at her from head to toe, over and over again, "Um... Uh..." He took another puff of his medicine, "Wow..."_

_Winter put her arms around his neck and whispered, "It's okay... No one's here, and there's no cameras..." She pressed her soft lips against his and massaged his lips with hers._

_Eddie put his hands on her bare hips, and since he had never been kissed before, he followed her lead._

_Winter led him to the study table. She sat on top of it; Eddie stood in-between her legs as they continued to kiss._

_She laid on her back on the table and pulled Eddie on top of her as they continued to kiss. Her soft tongue was asking for permission into his mouth. He separated his lips and massaged her tongue with his._

_She guided his hand so his fingers could lightly circle her wet clit._

_Eddie began to breathe heavier at all the feelings that were going through him as they touched on the table. He felt like all his dreams were coming true, and for once he felt like he did deserve happiness, and he was so happy._

_Winter looked into his eyes, "Don't you think you're wearing too much clothes right now?"_

_Eddie quickly took off his shirt and began to unbuckle his belt with his one hand. He felt like his dick was going to rip through his shorts, and he desperately wanted to know what it felt like to be in her velvety soft pussy._

_"Are you a virgin, Edz?" Winter asked curiously. "Do you want me to take your virginity away?"_

_"Fuck..." Eddie panted at her words. He took another inhale of his medicine._

_"You know, Edz... When you go inside my pussy, you'll feel like you're floating. Then once you cum inside of me, you'll never want to come back down... You can float forever inside of me."_

_Eddie stopped working on his belt, finding what she had said oddly familiar to what the clown has said before, regarding 'floating'._

_"That's an interesting way to describe it..." He looked at her._

_"You want to float, don't you, Edz?"_

_It was still Winter, but her voice changed to the clown._

_Eddie needed his inhaler, but it fell from his shorts pocket to underneath the table._

_"Do you want to float, Edz?" It laughed. It took Its fingers, and scratched Its face (still Winter's face) from Its eyes to Its mouth, scratching the red claw marks from the eyes to the corners of Its mouth._

_Eddie didn't know what he was feeling anymore; He was disappointed, heartbroken, still turned on over everything that had happened, but he was disgusted with himself. He couldn't breathe._

_Before he could make a sound, all the emotions and trouble breathing made Eddie faint to the ground._

_Who knows how long it was until Eddie woke up to the feeling of soft slapping on his cheek._

_He slowly fluttered his eyes open. Before his sight was back to normal, he remembered everything that happened. He screamed as he began to come to and wanted to cry. He felt all the happiness in the world and then it was taken all away. It was all a trick._

_"Eddie!" Richie said as he continued to slap his cheek, "Can someone grab his inhaler? It's under the table."_

_Bill ran up to Eddie on the floor and put his inhaler to his lips as he held onto Eddie's back, "In-Inhale, Eddie," he directed him._

_Eddie did what he was told and inhaled. He was finally able to breathe again._

_"What the fuck happened? Why is your shirt off and your belt is unbuckled?" Richie._

_"Why did you faint?" Stan._

_"A-Are you o-okay?" Bill._

_"No, I'm not fucking okay!" Eddie said frustrated. "Why... What the fuck?" Eddie asked as he looked down to his crotch, "Why the fuck are my balls hurting?"_

_"Were you kicked in the balls?" Richie asked._

_"No! It was fucking worse than that!" Eddie sighed as he looked down at his feet and felt frustrated, "It was the clown! I fucking thought it was Winter, and she was saying that she loves me and that she wanted to have sex with me. We were about to have sex on the table."_

_"You almost had sex with the clown?" Richie scrunched his face._

_Hearing him ask that made Eddie began to dry-heave, "Oh, fuck! That's disgusting!"_

_"You thought you were about to bang Winter but it was the clown?" Stan asked, a little bit amused by it all, "Did you put your dick in It?"_

_Eddie dry-heaved some more. When he stopped, he said, "No! But my dick really hurts right now! What's happening?!"_

_"Y-You ne-need to go jack-off. Y-You probably have bl-blue balls," Bill said to him, "G-Go to the washroom."_

_Eddie quickly got up to his feet. He didn't want to feel the uncomfortable feeling in his junk any longer. He quickly walked over to the washroom._

_"Don't forget to think of Winter and not the clown!" Richie joked._

_Eddie closed the door to the washroom, quickly unzipped his shorts and began to jack-off. He tried not to think of what happened with him on the table with the clown as Winter, but he couldn't help but think about how she pulled him on top of her on the table. Although it wasn't her, it was still the most magical moment in his life. That's what really broke his heart; The best happiness he ever felt was just an illusion and wasn't real._

_After a few minutes of him relieving himself, he heard the door to the washroom open. He quickly turned around and saw Richie coming in._

_"You all good, Eddie?" he asked. He saw Eddie in the corner of the washroom, and didn't realize that it would have been better if he knocked first._

_"Get the fuck out of here, Richie!" Eddie said._

_Richie's eyes went wide and he quickly closed the door. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_


	28. Part 28: "My Eyes Only See You"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Henry Bowers fanfic coming soon!! This new one will have nothing to do with Pennywise! Just a love story about the actual bully, Henry Bowers :) !
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter! It is short but sweet! 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Henry and Winter walked from The Canal Days Festival to The Barrens. They walked peacefully through the forests and streams and returned to their favourite spot as teenagers; The picnic table. 

"Is there a reason why you brought me to this particular spot?" Winter smiled, hinting to what they use to do at this picnic table. 

Henry smiled, "I didn't bring us here for that reason, but if you wanted to, I wouldn't say no." 

Winter giggled and sat up on the table, taking a couple of popcorns from the popcorn bag they bought from the carnival. 

Henry continued to smile peacefully as he sat beside her on the table.

Winter looked at him as his arm was pressed up against hers; "Want some popcorn?" 

He put his hand in the bag and grabbed a handful. As he ate his popcorn, he mentioned, "Today was fun. It was like nothing changed between the two of us." 

"I don't think anything did really change between the two of us... I missed doing things like this together."

"I did, too. I haven't smiled or laughed this much in a very long time," he softly smiled at her, wishing he knew when it would be a good time to kiss her. 

Winter nodded, "Same here." She peacefully looked from him to the beautiful surroundings as the sun beamed in The Barrens. "How's your mom doing?"

Winter hadn't seen his mom in years, and she remembered she was very depressed after losing her husband and her brothers. 

"She's good," Henry said as he looked around as well, "She lives with her boyfriend, and she's happy." 

"She has a boyfriend?" Winter's asked surprised, "It's hard to picture her with anyone besides your dad." 

"His name is Warren. He's helped her through the tough time. But, yeah, I don't think she could ever love him like how she loved my dad." Henry looked at Winter and weakly smiled, "As long as she's happy and not in her darkness anymore, I'm happy." 

Winter looked back at Henry and weakly smiled, admiring his piercing blue eyes. Maybe his eyes had aged and looked like he went through Hell and back, but they were still his beautiful eyes that she fell in love with. 

"Actually..." Henry grabbed his phone, "I would love to see my mom's reaction that we're hanging out together. Do you want to take a picture together for her?"

Winter smiled, "Yeah!" 

Henry scooted a little closer and put his arm behind Winter. He pulled out his selfie camera. They both smiled as he took the photo. 

He quickly text messaged his mom the photo with a text reading: _'Look who I'm hanging out with today!'_

"She's going to flip when she sees it!" Henry lightly laughed. 

Winter smiled adoringly as she watched Henry with his phone. As she watched him, she felt like she needed to let some things off her chest. It was the biggest elephant in the room that they needed to talk about; "Henry, I'm really sorry that I left. I think about it a lot about how there's other things I could have done instead of leaving. It's been something I've been dealing with for a long time now." 

Henry looked at her seriously, "Hey, you have nothing at all to be sorry about. I'm the one that's sorry for all that you had to go through with me and the three of them --" Ace, Vic and Belch, "There's nothing at all you should be sorry for. It's been four years that we haven't been together, but in reality, I was gone for six since I spent two of our years together drinking. I should have never put you through that." 

"It's just I've always wanted to be that girlfriend, or wife, that would stick with her partner through anything. I feel like I completely failed that..." she said sadly. 

"I hate to bring it up, but I threw a bottle, and it hit you... I've had to deal with that regret for four years. All I want is to protect you, even if that means that you had to leave. I couldn't protect you with Ace, Vic and Belch attached to me. For once I didn't know what to do for your protection, and I think leaving was what you needed to do to be safe as I figured out how to get rid of them." 

Winter could see that Henry's eyes were scanning the left side of her chest and shoulder, where the bottle fractured her skin. Winter knew he would be feeling guilty over it, so the entire time they have been together in the past twenty-four hours, she kept the scars covered. She figured he would eventually ask to see them. 

"How did you get rid of them, Henry?" she asked. 

He took a moment as he looked from her eyes, to his hands on his lap, to her eyes again, "That's something we should probably talk about later when we get more time to talk one-on-one about everything." 

Winter nodded, wanting to know what he did so badly but respecting that he needed some more time. 

"I just wish I was there with you to help you through it all." 

He softly smiled at her, "Do you remember when we all went into the sewers, and you were upset because you felt like you should have done more to help Georgie and that girl?"

Winter sadly nodded, "Her name was Lily." 

"I told you that sometimes it's going to be too late, and you'll have to know when to walk away and accept that there is nothing else you could have done, because you already did all that you could. That darkness of wishing you did more will eat you alive, and the clown knows that..." he continued to look at her as she listened quietly.

Winter nodded, remembering what he had told her. 

"You did all that you could, Winter. You did a huge amount to try and help me, but I needed to help myself. I don't ever want you to live your life regretting walking away." They both remained quiet for a few seconds as they continued to look into each others eyes. "But, you know, when the reason why you had to walk away is gone..." Henry grabbed her hand that rested in her lap, "You can walk back to me." 

Winter stared into his loving gaze as she held his hand back. They squeezed at each other's fingers, like they were both holding back so strongly from kissing each other. 

Winter softly smiled as she continued to stare into his eyes, "Of course I want to walk back to you. More than anything in the world."

Henry smiled, looking like he had a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders to hear her say that. 

"Jesus Christ, I think my heart just exploded a little bit," Henry lightly laughed as he rubbed the left side of his chest. 

Winter laughed as she watched his expression turn to the joyful teenage boy she had loved so dearly. She still wanted to talk about Eddie before they made things official. 

"I think we should talk a bit more before we become official, though. I just want us to have a clean slate before we get back into a relationship," Winter suggested. 

Still smiling, Henry nodded, "I agree. We never had secrets. So, when whatever it is we all have to do tonight is done, we can just spend time talking. We'll lay everything out on the table, okay?" He needed to explain to her what happened the night he got rid of Belch, Ace and Vic. "Just so you know, though, there is nothing you could tell me that will make me not want to be with you." 

Winter softly smiled. She really hoped that was true, since what she was doing with Eddie, a married man, seemed pretty low to her. 

"Same here, Henry. I just need you to know everything." 

Henry's text alert sounded, and he smiled when he read his mom's message. 

"My mom is so excited!" he laughed. 

Henry looked back at her with an adoring smile. He embraced her in his arms in a hug. Winter nuzzled her face in the side of his neck and inhaled his natural scent. His smell brought back so many great memories. 

He grabbed her hand again and looked into her eyes. 

Winter could still see, through the happiness, that his eyes told her that he had gone through so much in the past four years. 

"Your eyes look like you've seen so much," she weakly smiled. 

He continued to stare at her, "My eyes only see you." 

Winter melted at his gaze. She wondered if it would have been bad to kiss him right there before they talked and told each other everything they needed to talk about before they moved forward. 

"You got to be fucking kidding me!" 

And of course they were going to be disturbed.

Henry and Winter looked up, and saw Richie staring in disbelief at them from behind the trees. 

"You guys know, I was just fucking terrorized by a gigantic clown at the park, and you two look like you're about to fuck on the table! You both look like you had a lovely time together in this Hell-mouth town!" Richie expressed.

Henry and Winter quickly looked at each other before they looked back at Richie. 

"We did," Henry laughed lightly. 

"Well, per-fucking-ect! You guys didn't see anything scary at all?" he asked. 

Winter shook her head, "No, we didn't." 

"Oh!" he threw up his hands and rolled his eyes, "I'm glad you two had a nice date while I almost got eaten." He walked over to them, "If you guys have so much good luck when you're together, I'm staying here with you. I will just look the other direction if you need to bang out your happiness to end off your amazing date!" 

Henry looked at Winter and smiled his big smile he would always show her when he was very happy. He was so in love with this woman beside him. 

Henry quickly looked at his phone for the time and looked at Winter and Richie, "We should probably get back to the hotel. I'm not sure what Mike has planned tonight." 

"Probably to sacrifice us or some crazy-ass shit like that," Richie said to himself as he headed back for the road as Henry and Winter got to their feet and walked behind him hand-in-hand. 

When the three of them got back to the hotel, Bev, Bill, Ben and Mike were already there in the hallway. All of them looked shaken up. 

Before Henry and Winter entered, they had let go of each other's hands, not ready to tell the others the discussion they had earlier. They both wanted to talk more that night before displaying their signs of affection. 

Bev saw them holding hands and she couldn't help but smile at the two of them looking happy, especially Henry who looked like a little kid who got a puppy for Christmas. 

"So, I ran into these two on the picnic table where they decided to end their magical happy day! I, on the other hand, was nearly clown food!" Richie exclaimed. 

Henry and Winter looked at each other, and even though they all looked terrified over what happened to them that day, they couldn't help but smile lovingly at each other. 

Eddie came through the door, looking like he had a very stressful day. When he looked at everyone, all seven of them could see that he had spent some time crying. He quickly scanned everyone, and stopped his eyes on Winter and Henry. 

Eddie went over to Winter, and asked sadly, "Did anything happen to you today? Like, did I save you from any forest creatures?" 

Winter stared into his sad wet eyes. She had never seen him look so down before. She shook her head, "No, Edz... I was with Henry all day." 

Eddie stared for a few moments at Winter, and then looked at everyone else again. 

"I'm just going to freshen up..." Eddie said as he went to the staircase and walked upstairs with his head hanging low. 

Winter watched him as he walked upstairs. She saw the hurt in his eyes and she felt guilty. She pursed her lips as she reminded herself that he was a married man, and she needed to do what was right for her. 

As Eddie was in his room freshening up, Mike had ordered a pizza for everyone. 

Eddie came back downstairs with a new outfit on, and he was trying not to look at Winter or Henry as he sat with the others. It was too difficult not to look over at Winter, though, as he always found her so beautiful. He didn't know what her and Henry had done that day, but he noticed that Henry did seem happier than he was the day before. However, he wasn't looking at Eddie like he knew about him and Winter, though.

"So, Eddie, Bill, Winter and Richie..." Mike began, "Are you ready to bring the band back together tonight? In honour of Stan and Mr. Hopper?" 

Eddie, Winter, Bill and Richie stared at Mike. They weren't ready for this news. 

"M-Mike, I don't th-think any of us are prepared," Bill said. 

"It's just for shooting the shit, guys! It'll just be me, Henry, Bev and Ben watching. I know the perfect place to go, too." 

Bill, Eddie, Winter and Richie all looked at each other. Since it was old band day stuff they were thinking about, Eddie and Winter could look at each other without feeling sadness or guilt. They both softly smiled at each other before making eye-contact with Bill and Richie, who all began to smile as well. 

"I better get my fucking solo tonight!" Richie declared.


	29. Part 29: The Lightening Bolt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
"I thought this place was so much bigger when I was a kid," Eddie said as the eight of them walked into the auditorium at Derry High School.

"Yeah, it was so big and magical to us..." Winter said as she stood by the stage.

"Things are not as magical after you grow up," Bev noted as she looked around the auditorium.

"Th-This is where the tor-turtle turned us into adults," Bill smiled. "We were ri-riding on the turtle's shell."

"Oh, right!" Winter smiled, "I remember having that thought when we were all up here. I think we all had that thought."

"You guys are acting like a bunch of hippies," Richie said. He went over to Eddie and looked at him, "Do you want to ditch these guys and go read some comic books?"

Eddie tested some of the keys on the keyboard on stage, "Trust me, Richie; I wish I was anywhere but here right now..." He glanced over at Winter quickly who was talking with Bill and Bev, and then back to his keyboard.

"Cool! Let's blow this joint!" Richie announced.

"Guys!" Mike went up to the two of them, "Getting the band together was the last thing Stan had said to you guys. You can't just bail. This is in honour of remembering who Stan was to all of us."

"Well, Mike, according to Mr. Hopper, he was the feet in our band. We can't do much without feet," Richie protested.

"Plus we don't have a drummer. He was our drummer," Eddie said.

Overhearing the conversation, Bill spoke up, "Th-Then we will n-n-need to compromise. Eddie, you st-stay on keyboard..." He turned over to Winter who was looking at the instruments at the side of the stage, "Hey, W-W-Winter! Are you still good on guitar?"

Winter shrugged, "I'm decent."

"A-Are you okay i-if I play Bass a-and you carry the whole g-guitar load?"

Winter nodded, "I should be okay."

Bill turned to Richie, "I kn-know you can pl-play drums. You di-did that special on The C-Comedy Network and it showcased you p-playing."

Richie stared at Bill unamused, "You're buying me a hotdog when we're done." He walked away towards Winter to look at the instruments and bug her. "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

Bill looked at Eddie as he quietly tested the keyboard. He was concerned for him after he got back from his day alone earlier looking so upset, and he had seemed quiet as the night continued on. "Y-You okay, Eddie?"

Eddie looked up at him, "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

"L-Look, man... If you need t-to ta-talk to someone, I-I'm l-listening..."

Eddie knew he had to think of something fast to cover the real reason why he was upset.

"It's just that Myra wants these really ugly looking window drapes, and they're the most hideous looking things I've ever seen." It wasn't a complete lie; Myra was bugging him to get these ugly drapes that she really wanted.

Bill knew he wasn't telling the truth; "Th-That's why you we're c-crying?"

"Yep!" Even he thought his excuse for being upset was ridiculous, "Just look at these!"

Eddie pulled out his phone and went to his gallery. He showed Bill a picture of these very ugly purple and brown shades.

"She calls them..." he twisted his face and mocked her voice, "' _...Nostalgic.'_ "

Bill continued to look at the photos as Eddie kept swiping left. The photos were becoming less current as he continued to swipe. Eddie swiped to a photo in the winter time to him kissing Winter sweetly in the snowfall. Winter's face was covered by Eddie's, so Bill couldn't see that it was Winter right away.

"Shit!" Eddie mumbled as he took the phone quickly away and shoved it in his pocket.

Bill pointed towards his phone, shocked by what he saw, "E-Eddie, wh-who was that? I know th-that wasn't Myra."

Eddie began to sweat lightly as he began to feel anxious, "It's nothing, Bill."

"Y-y-you were kissing another w-w-woman..."

Bill turned around and looked at Winter; He was putting the pieces together. He knew that Eddie had a crush on her since he was a teenager, and they began hanging out a few months ago. Plus, Winter wasn't with Henry anymore. The way the two were arguing in Eddie's car outside of the restaurant yesterday made it all so obvious to Bill.

Bill pointed towards Winter, "E-Eddie, a-are you ch-cheating on your w-wife with--"

"It was my cousin!" Eddie said quickly.

Bill looked at Eddie and twisted his face in disgust and confusion, "Y-your c-cousin?"

Eddie nearly wanted to hurl in his mouth at the idea, "Yep! Kissing cousins! It's actually a very known thing that some cousins like to do... We always got along, so we like to kiss sometimes..." His eyes went wide at all the words coming from his own mouth.

Bill watched Eddie's expressions as he spoke, but then the realization hit Bill, "Y-You don't ha-have a cousin, though..."

Mike came up from behind Bill and put his hand on his shoulder, "You ready to rock n roll, boys?"

"Yep! I'm ready! Let's start right now!" Eddie said quickly, wanting the conversation between him and Bill to stop.

"Okay, I'll see if the others are ready and then you can all start," Mike smiled at them before he walked away.

Before the conversation could be brought up again, Eddie excused himself, "I just need to go to the washroom before we start."

"E-Eddie, I-I'm n-not going to judge you, you c-can ta-talk to me about th-this!" Bill said to him.

Eddie stood still for a moment and looked down to the ground, considering his offer. He looked back at Bill with his eyes telling a different story than what he was saying about a cousin; "I just need to go to the washroom."

Bill sighed as he watched Eddie close the washroom door behind him and then he turned his attention to Winter, "Shit, Eddie... What a-are you d-doing?" he said to himself.

Henry went up to Winter at the side of the stage behind the curtain. He placed his arm around her shoulders as she tested her guitar away from everyone else.

"Hey!" Winter smiled happily at him.

"I think Mike was planning to take everyone out after you guys play. I was thinking that you and me can go back to the hotel, and we can talk?"

Winter nodded, smiling, "Yeah, that sounds good." She could see the lovingly look in his eyes, but she could also tell that he was nervous to tell her whatever it was that he had to tell her.

Before Henry could get lost in her eyes, he said, "I guess I should find a good seat before the place gets filled up with all your fans," he joked.

Winter giggled, "After that Celine concert, I'd be nervous if word got around town that I was playing here."

Henry laughed, "I'd be nervous, too. I would have to go through the building looking for you again."

Winter stared at him seriously as she realized that talking to him wasn't a trick from Pennywise, "You were there that night... That was you I talked to..."

He stared passionately into her eyes and rubbed her shoulder, "Yeah... Yeah, that was me."

Winter couldn't take withdrawing from the passion anymore; She put her hands on his chest and stared into his eyes as she inched closer.

She placed her lips onto his.

Henry responded by putting his hands through her hair and kissed her softly, yet passionately. They could feel the world stopping around them, and kissing each other felt like how it was supposed to feel -- right. 

Every time they ever kissed flashed through their minds; From the first time in the bookstore to the last time they saw each other four years ago, and it was the most loving sensation they ever felt. Henry knew all the work he did throughout the years of getting sober and looking for Winter was all for this moment.

Mike walked up to the both of them and smiled. He knew Henry was probably so happy. He quickly cleared his throat.

Winter and Henry parted and looked at Mike.

"You ready, Winter?"

Winter had a smile on her lips as she nodded to him.

As Mike walked away, she looked back at Henry who was smiling at her and looking at her like she was the most important thing in the world.

"We'll talk more later?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he smiled, he looked to be in another world filled with happiness and ectasy. He began to walk away as he said, "I'll go find a seat, and..." he bumped into an amp. Winter responded by giggling as he stumbled into more things. "...and we'll take off early."

Winter stared at Henry as he stopped walking and looked from her to where he was headed. 

"You okay?" she giggled at his expression. 

"Fuck it!" Henry walked back over to her and grabbed her hips, passionately putting his lips to hers and kissing her deeply. Winter responded by putting her hands behind his head and pulled him in closer. 

Henry let his hands run on her waist, touching her skin as the fabric of the bottom of her sweater and shirt rose up a little bit. 

They continued to hold each other as Henry looked at her and said, "Okay! No more until we talk."

Winter nodded with a smile, "No more until we talk!" she repeated. 

He moved some hair out of her face and said, "God, you're so beautiful." They continued to stare into each others eyes for a few more seconds before Henry came to; "Okay! I gotta go get a seat or I'm going to flip you over my shoulder and kidnap you back to the hotel early." 

Henry let go of her and was about to turn around, but Winter pulled him by the shirt; "One more!" she smiled and kissed him quickly a few times. 

Henry laughed, "You're going to be the death of me!" 

"No more!" Winter put her hands up and backed away, "You're free to go sit down now."

"You sure?" he laughed.

She giggled and nodded, "Yep! Are you sure?"

He stared at her over the question and wanted to kiss her some more. He blew out some air and smiled, "If I keep staring at you, I'm just going to keep kissing you all night."

Winter laughed as he walked away.

Henry went to the audience in the auditorium with a huge smile on his face. He sat beside Bev and Ben who were talking about pop culture together. 

"Someone looks happy," Bev smiled as she looked at Henry. 

"Woah! Is that an actual smile?" Ben laughed. 

"And his cheeks are pink!" Bev laughed. 

"What the Hell happened back there?" Ben. 

Henry couldn't hold back his happiness as he began to laugh, "Nothing." 

Bev and Ben looked at each other and began to laugh over Henry's laughter and how obvious it was that something happened at the side of the stage with Winter and him. 

"You don't need to tell us anything, Henry. Your expression already says it all." Bev smiled. 

Mike sat in the row in front of Bev, Ben and Henry. He quickly looked up at the three of them and raised his eyebrows at Henry's expression. 

"I haven't seen a look on your face like that since high school," Mike smiled. 

Henry looked away from everyone and continued to smile as he thought about what had happened with Winter. 

Richie sat at the drum kit as he flickered the drum stick between his fingers. 

Eddie had just left the washroom and went over to the keyboard. 

Winter stood at the front of the stage with a pink and black guitar she picked. 

Bill stood at the front of the stage to the left of Winter with the Bass Guitar. He looked over at Eddie who had just arrived and then looked at Winter.

"Stan had a nice view from up here! I get a nice look at Winter's and Bill's ass'! You both have really nice butts!" He looked over to Eddie, "Eddie, you need to squat more! For someone who had a mother with a huge ass, I didn't think you would end up with nothing!" 

Eddie shot him a look, "It's been fifteen or fourteen years! Can you stop talking about my mom?"

"I will once your mom stops talking about my big dick!" Richie. 

Richie hit the drums -- ' _ba-daa-chh!'_

"My mom has never talked about your dick, asshole..." Eddie mumbled. 

Bill and Winter looked at each other as the two of them continued to bicker. This was actually turning into the old band days. 

"Yes she has! She just doesn't remember, because I was in and out in a flash. They call me The Lightening Bolt in Hollywood!" Richie. 

"Then I feel bad for all the women who have slept with you." Eddie. 

"I have a lasting lightening bolt mark on them forever." Richie.

"Well, that's scary." Eddie.

Richie pulled out all the drumsticks in the basket beside him, and began throwing them at Eddie one at a time. 

"BOLT! BOLT! BOLT! BOLT! You have been fucked by The Lightening Bolt!" he continued to throw the sticks at him. 

Mike, Henry, Bev and Ben continued to stare at them in amusement. 

Eddie covered his head with his arm, "Are you fucking twelve?!" 

Richie threw one stick at Winter's butt, "BOLT!" Then he threw one at Bill's butt, "BOLT!" 

Bill and Winter stepped forward and looked at Richie, "RICHIE!" 

Eddie grabbed all the sticks that were thrown at him and threw them back at Richie one at a time, "How do you like it, fucker?! Take in the revenge!" 

"Do you guys need Chaperoning no matter how old you are?!" a voice echoed in the auditorium.

Everyone looked around, feeling fear as the voice echoed around them from a microphone. 

Richie, Winter, Bill and Eddie's eyes went wide as they looked around the big room.

"Holy fucking shit!" Richie said, stepping away from his drum set in shock. "Who the fuck is that?!"

"You guys are making me turn in my grave with how annoying you are!" the voice said. 

As Bev, Mike, Ben and Henry looked around, feeling the fear rising in their stomachs, Henry continued to look around the auditorium towards Winter. 

From the side of the stage closer to Eddie and Bill, the late Mr. Will Hopper stepped onto the stage and glared at Richie and Eddie. 

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Henry jumped. He jumped up from his chair at the sight of his dead uncle and ran up to Winter on the stage. He grabbed onto her waist and backed her as far from Will Hopper as he could. 

Everyone stared in shock at Mr. Hopper as he walked to the front and centre of the stage and looked at everyone. 

"Did I fool you all?" the clown's voice said from Mr. Hopper's mouth. He looked at Henry, "Oh, hey, nephew! How come you never visit my grave? Do you feel guilty about my death?"

Henry continued to stare at him, not answering to It. 

"Wait, wait! I got the coolest trick! Ready?" Mr. Hopper covered his face with his hands. Slowly, letting his hands fall from his face to the rest of his body, he began to turn into the clown. 

"OH, FUCK!" Richie exclaimed as he was about to hurl. 

"S-S-Shit!" Bill backed away from the creature that was growing to Its seven-foot frame.

Mike looked up towards Bev and Ben behind him and motioned for them to follow him to the aisle of the auditorium so they could run when they needed to. 

Henry continued to stand next to Winter with his arm securely around her waist. 

Eddie looked from the clown to Winter repeatedly as he backed away from his keyboard a little bit. 

The clown looked at all of them on stage, and towards the rest of them in the audience. He said with a disgusted look on Its face; "You are all so old! You all have secrets, and you're all liars! How come kids never have secrets like adults do?! When did you all lose your innocence?! I could have ended all your misery before the curse of old-age hit you all!" 

They all continued to stare at It silently as It continued to scan all of them, reading them. 

It began to laugh, "Wow! All of you are lying, secret keeping old shits! You all have done some very naughty and messed up things! But..." It put up Its index finger, "There are only a few of you that I think are worthy of exposing!" It began to laugh. 

All of them could feel their chest tightening up and their breathing become irregular. They all had secrets and lies that they kept to themselves.

"My good friend, Eddie..." the clown laughed. "Oh, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie..." 

Winter closed her eyes tightly. Under her breath, she said, "No..." She looked over at Eddie at the other side of the stage, and he looked at her. 

"You were always so honest... so in control of your life. You have a big business and so much money, but you can't control your mom or your wife running your life. It's sad, really. When did you let your wife rip off your balls and throw them away? Is it because your mom had already ripped your balls off when you were a kid?" 

Eddie rubbed at the bridge of his nose and could feel his heart pounding. He knew the clown was going to out him and Winter to everyone .

"When was it that you finally found your balls and attached them back onto your dick? Was it that day at the hospital? A friendly nurse that you love so much sewed your balls back on for you so you could try and take control of your life?" Pennywise laughed. 

Everyone continued to stare from the clown to Eddie, who was looking really uncomfortable. 

"You've turned into a liar and manipulator, Spaghettiman." Pennywise.

Richie looked at Eddie, "What's It talking about, Eddie?"

"Not only were you living with another woman in February and March when you thought your marriage was over, but you continued to cheat on your wife after moving back in with her and going to a marriage counsellor. Yes, Losers, your naughty friend, Eddie, has been cheating on his wife..." the clown hissed. 

"EDDIE!" Bev and Ben exclaimed from the audience, shocked at what the clown said. 

"Seriously, man?! You're cheating on your wife?!" Richie asked with shock. 

Bill was looking at Eddie, feeling bad for his friend. 

Everyone was staring at Eddie as he rubbed his forehead ashamed. Winter didn't look over, she kept her eyes on the ground. Henry continued to stare down the clown, wanting It to know that he didn't fear It. 

Pennywise continued, "...with Winter." 

The whole room went quiet as everyone was shocked.

Henry slid his tongue against his front teeth and shot his head over towards Eddie. He knew he was lying to him that day in March.

Richie broke the silence, as he tried to hold in his laugher but ended up failing. 

"RICHIE!" Bev shouted at him. 

"What?!" he laughed some more, "The little man's dream came true!" He cleared his throat as he noticed everyone looking at him, "I'm not good at social queues." He looked at Pennywise, "So, is that all you had, or is this an exploitation where you're going to be like _'But wait, there's more!_ '..." He began to feel awkward as everyone continued to give him a look telling him to shut up, "...I just wanted to know in case I could get a moment to make some popcorn... Or I can just shut up and fuck myself. Either one is good to me, I guess... I'll just shut up now. Continue on."

Pennywise looked at Winter, who was obviously upset as she felt everyone's stares on her, "Although you've been fucking Eddie..."

Henry turned his head away and rubbed his forehead. He wanted this exploitation to be over. He didn't want to hear about the love of his life having sex with Eddie. 

"Your mind is never on Eddie, is it? When you're done, those bad feelings you experience every night always come back. What a shitty solution to try and rid of your guilt and mental issues when it only last a few minutes. Winter, you've always had this need to help others when you can't even help yourself. First, you tried to help Henry, which you couldn't do. Then you tried to help Eddie, which you couldn't do because he went back to his wife. Everyone you've cared for has left you for what they really love. Your parents left you so they can continue with their work outside of the country, because they love work more than you. Eddie left you for his wife, because his priorities are his marriage. Then, you might have left Henry, but he left you first for his love of alcohol. The alcohol made him feel better more than you could..."

Winter continued to stare down at the ground, feeling all her emotions coming to the surface as she sniffled and wiped her tears. 

"Don't listen to It," Henry said to her. 

"Winter, it's not true! It's lying to you!" Eddie said. 

Henry shot a look at Eddie. Eddie thought if looks could kill, he would have been dead by Henry's glare. 

Pennywise looked at Henry and Eddie, "This is her truth! This is what she believes. You're going to try and convince her differently? Are you all idiots?! Look at her! She's a broken little girl who has two dead children clung to her arms, an alcoholic on her brain, and fucking a married man to make her bad emotions go away." It looked back at Winter, "Henry was married to his alcohol, and Eddie went back to his wife and left you as a fuck toy. Now you cry every night, knowing this is the truth. You are nothing but the other woman to both of them."

"You cry every night?" Eddie asked sadly, feeling like a piece of shit if that's what Winter actually believed. He knew she was mad and considered herself as the other woman, but he didn't realize it went so emotionally deep for her. 

"FUCK, MAN!" Henry glared at the clown. "YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT!" He turned to Winter and grabbed her arm, "Listen, Winter, it's not true. None of that is true. You are perfect. I was messed up for a bit, but the moment you left, I threw away my alcohol so I could get you back, because you are all I want."

Ben, Bev, Bill, Mike and Richie looked from Winter and the clown, feeling terrible for Winter of what the clown was saying to her. 

"Y-Y-You're done! Get the f-fuck out of h-h-here before I sh-shove this guitar down your th-throat!" Bill shouted. 

"I'll follow by shoving a drumstick up your ass, fuck face!" Richie held up his drumstick. 

Pennywise ignored them. It looked at Henry; "Henry, I would have given you all the power in the world, and taken away all your empathy. Empathy makes you a target in this world for people to kill you from the inside-out. I could have taken that away and you would never feel an ounce of pain for anyone ever again. You went against me, though..." The clown glared at Henry, as Henry stared back at It; "You think you're so tough. You think you're wise because of all the turtle told you, and that you were able to rid Vic, Belch and Ace and send them back to me. You're not a tough man really, though, are you, Henry?"

Henry knew what It was going to expose next, but he continued to stare into the clown's eyes, trying to look like he wasn't afraid. 

"You know what they say about a man that hangs and kills himself, right?" 

Winter shot her wet eyes to Henry; "What's It talking about?" She could feel her heart racing at the mention of him killing himself. "Henry, what's It talking about?" she cried. 

Henry couldn't look at Winter's eyes. He knew she was going to be hurt by what he did. He continued to stare at the clown as he pursed his lips. 

Pennywise continued, "...When a loved man tries to kill himself, they only really kill the ones who love him."

Pennywise looked at Winter. When Winter looked back at the clown, she saw the deadlights in Its eyes. It raised Its hand and traced a line with his hand across her neck from the distance they were standing. 

From Winter's point of view, she wasn't on the stage anymore. 

_Winter was standing on a coffee table with a rope around her neck in Henry's body._

"What's happening?" Henry asked, looking at Winter as she stood there hypnotized. 

_As he began to step from the coffee table, she only saw Vic, Ace and Belch running up to him. He felt so much heartbreak and could only think of Winter. He wanted her back more than anything in the world. He couldn't see how to go on with life without her._

Henry could see a dent going into her neck, like an invisible rope was beginning to choke her. 

_Winter, in Henry's point of view, stepped off the table and hung himself._

_Every nightmare that Winter ever woke up to with Henry hanging above her in bed from a rope tied around his neck flashed in her mind one after another._

Winter began to hyperventilate as she tried inhaling for air. She began to claw at the invisible rope around her neck. 

"Oh, my God!" Henry held onto Winter as her legs began to give out and was about to fall to the ground. "STOP!" he yelled at the clown. 

Everyone looked towards Winter and back at the clown. 

Eddie jumped from his keyboard after he realized that Winter was choking and jumped onto Pennywise. 

Pennywise turned off the deadlights as Eddie attacked It. 

"F-FUCK!" Bill feared for Eddie. He knew he was trying to be a hero, but he knew right now was not a good time with no plan.

Bill ran up to Eddie and Pennywise, and tried to get him off of the clown. 

The line around Winter's neck had disappeared and she was back on stage. Once she realized that she was back to reality, she screamed and cried with everything the clown had shown her. 

"EDDIE, YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Ben yelled from the audience. 

Henry looked over from Winter to Eddie, who was attacking the clown; "Fuck! Its gonna kill him..." Now that Winter could breathe, he ran to the guitars so he could hit Pennywise. 

Richie ran over to Winter on the ground and went down to his knees; "Winter! Winter! Are you okay?!" 

Winter couldn't stop shaking, and she was shaking like mad at the images that she had just seen. She began to crawl towards the side of the stage as she continued to choke, hyperventilate and have a panic attack.

"Eddie, don't be stupid, man!" Mike said to Eddie as he tried to step in as well.

"FUCK!" Richie exclaimed over Winter's condition. He went running up to Henry, who had grabbed a guitar to smash over Pennywise. "Trade places!" He grabbed the guitar from his grip, "Winter isn't doing good!" 

Henry quickly ran over to Winter at the side of the stage and went down to his knees, "Winter, Winter! Can you hear me?!" he grabbed onto her shoulders. 

Winter responded, her voice hoarse from the rope, "YOU-YOU TRIED T-T-TO K-K-KILL YOURSELF?! Y-YOU D-D-DIED?!" She couldn't stop shaking and crying. 

Henry's heart broke that Pennywise showed her everything -- he was the one that was going to tell her; "Winter, I..." He didn't know how to explain himself, "I was in a bad place. I didn't know how to live life without you." 

She stared at him with her eyes wide. She kept thinking about how it was her fault that she left, and it made her shake and cry more. 

"I-I D-DIDN'T KN-KNOW!" she broke down on the floor, "I S-SHOULD H-HAVE BE-BEEN THERE A-AT THE HOS-HOSPITAL!" 

"Winter? Winter? Look at me, please!" he grabbed her shoulders. He began to feel in her pockets for her inhaler as she was still having a hard time breathing. Once he pulled out the apparatus, he put it to her lips. 

While Pennywise had Eddie pinned to the floor, the others tried to pull the monster off of him. 

It magically pulled Ace's old knife from out of It's pants and said, "Henry should have done this years ago!" It stabbed the knife right through Eddie's cheek. 

"HOLY FUCK, MAN!" Richie came up from behind and hit Pennywise over the head with the guitar, indenting a hole in the clowns head. 

Pennywise slowly got off of Eddie and staggered towards underneath the stage and disappeared. 

"Eddie, are you okay?!" Mike asked him. 

Everyone was staring at Eddie in disbelief as he had the handle of Ace's knife sticking on the outside of his cheek. 

Eddie didn't stay on the floor or say anything. He got up to his feet and ran over to where Winter and Henry were. He noticed Winter hyperventilating, shaking and crying. He got down on his knees beside Henry. 

"Au yu oakay?" 

Winter and Henry's eyes went wide at the view of Eddie's cheek. 

Still trying to breathe and shaking, Winter tried to put her hand on the knife sticking out of Eddie's cheek. She tried to pull herself together to nurse Eddie. She pulled off the sweater she was wearing and placed it under Eddie's mouth so it could absorb the blood dripping from his mouth. 

"Oo naw, I'm gonna reck yer sweator..." he said sadly. He just wanted to know that she was going to be okay. 

"E-Edz, is th-there ringing in y-your ear?" Winter asked, still trying to breathe normally. 

"Naw... Dis aul gud... I'm fine..." He tried to smile. He went from trying to smile to looking serious, "But au yu oakay? Du yu heed tu go tu da 'ospital?"

"I'm going to pull it out!" Richie said, about to grab the handle of the knife. 

"NO!" Winter said to Richie, "I-I have medical supplies at the hotel!" She shakily got up to her feet with the help of Henry. 

Richie helped Eddie get back to his feet. 

"Can you do this right now, Winter? We can take him to the hospital," Bev said. 

"No! I can do it," she protested as she continued to shake and cry while she walked out of the room. Her whole body wouldn't stop shaking, but she was a nurse, and she knew what to do. She knew she would be fine to stitch Eddie up. 

The entire walk back to the hotel, Richie and Bill stayed near Eddie to make sure he was okay. 

Bev and Ben supported Winter as she could barely walk on her own; The shock of what she saw and the stress on her throat caused her to continue to shake and tremble. 

Henry and Mike walked a few feet behind Winter. Henry still really wanted to talk to Winter, but he didn't know where to start. He wanted to talk to Eddie, as well. His veins were boiling over Eddie lying to him, and he didn't know what to think about Winter and Eddie having a sexual relationship behind his wife's back.

No one knew what to say as they walked to the hotel. All they cared about was knowing if Eddie and Winter were going to be okay after being hurt. All the shocking truths was really difficult for them to absorb. 

They all got back to the hotel and went straight to the kitchen. 

Winter started to boil water to make tea to calm her nerves and her shaking. 

"Maybe Eddie should go to the hospital. Like, you're shaking, Winter. Can you just turn that off when you're stitching up Eddie?" Richie asked; Everyone else stood around the table, listening. Henry couldn't take his eyes off of Winter; He just wanted to talk to her about everything.

"I'll be fine..." Winter said as she poured the water into the cup. 

Eddie sat down at the kitchen table, holding Winter's sweater below his mouth and said, "If 'ee gu tu da 'ospital, da octor 'ill 'ust 'ay dat Winar 'id a gud jub n 'end 'ee 'ome."

Richie stared at Eddie, "I'm sorry, I must have missed that day in school where we learned how to understand knife in the mouth." 

Winter pulled up a seat beside Eddie on the side of his injury, and said, "He said that if we go to the hospital, the doctor will just say that Winter did a good job and send me home." 

Eddie raised his hands in the air, "Dat's wut I 'aid!" 

Winter filled up a needle with a pain killer, "I'm going to numb the area, Edz. It might sting..." 

The needle shook in her hand. She tightly closed her eyes and breathed deeply. 

"Yu can du it," Eddie said to her reassuringly. 

Winter cleared her mind and told herself to step into her nurse duties and pull herself together. She was finally able to control her shaky hands and began treating Eddie. 


	30. Part 30: No More Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this part at 9pm last night, and now it's 8am here. I hope you all enjoy it LOL!  
> Pulling an all-nighter with Henry and the Losers is worth it to me :P
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter and Eddie sat at the kitchen table silently as Winter continued to stitch up Eddie's cheek. She had numbed the wound, took out the knife, controlled the bleeding and was stitching up the inside and the outside of Eddie's cheek. She was able to focus and turned off all of her thoughts outside of fixing up Eddie. 

Eddie sat there quietly. He was trapped in his own thoughts as he couldn't talk while Winter was doing her work on his cheek. He would stare at her face if she was in his view, and he wished that he could just talk to her. He felt terrible for the pain she was in every night after he would leave her to go home to his wife. He didn't know she was that upset about it until tonight. 

The rest of the gang sat in the living room lobby, drinking, and casually talking. 

Henry sat in a chair with a soda as the rest of them talked and he listened. His mind was with Winter, wanting to get to the root of the relationship she had with Eddie. He also wanted to ease her mind about what happened the night he tried to kill himself. The way Pennywise showed her everything and talked to her made him feel horrible, and all he wanted to do was fix it. 

Richie casually walked into the kitchen to visit Eddie and Winter. 

Eddie looked up at him with the sadness in his eyes as Winter kept her attention on his cheek. 

"Don't mind me!" Richie said with enthusiasm, "I was just checking up on you two to make sure you weren't in here doing anything you shouldn't be doing." He motioned with his fingers a penis going in a vagina.

Eddie glared at him, still unable to talk. 

Winter wasn't listening. 

"That's fine if no one wants to talk. I talk to people for an hour almost every night and they don't talk back... You know... Comedian on stage life..." He smiled. "So, like, Eddie... I'm just trying to understand all this and put the pieces together... Was it because we always called Winter the mom of the group?" 

Eddie took a salt shaker from the table and threw it at him. He didn't want to hear what Richie had to say.

"Gees! Salty!" Richie said, dodging the salt shaker. He picked it up and smiled, "Get it? Salty? Salt shaker?" He continued to stare at Eddie's glare, "You know, I wasn't very good at reading expressions and social queues when I was a kid, but holy shit, man, I'm totally reading your expression right now! I'll just go back in the other room!" 

Richie pretended to skate away into the hallway to go into the living room. 

Eddie looked back at Winter, who was tearing up. The thoughts of seeing Henry hang himself, and the fact that Pennywise exposed all her feelings for Henry and Eddie to everyone made it back to her mind. 

He stared at her, feeling terrible. 

Winter cut the last strand of the stitch, added some disinfectant and then put a bandage on top of his cheek. As she looked down, she noticed on his left hand that his wedding ring was gone. She wondered what was up with that.

She continued to try and hold back her tears as she said, "These are some pain killers you can take. Only take one when you need it, but don't exceed three pills a day. If it becomes infected; So if it feels itchy, or you're still in a lot of pain in the next week, make an appointment with your doctor so he can write you up a prescription for an antibiotic." She tried to make eye-contact with Eddie but couldn't, "So... um... do you have any ques--" Her tears came to the surface and she was having a hard time holding in her emotions. 

Eddie leaned into her quickly, placing his forehead to hers and grabbing onto her hand that was shaking again, "Winter, I'm going to make things right. Please don't lose hope in me. I'm done with Myra. I'm going to file for divorce when we're all done with this. I know I've been an idiot. Just please don't lose hope in me -- in us." He pleaded.

A tear fell from Winter's eye when she looked back up to Eddie's eyes; "You keep saying that... I've been having to watch you go back home to your wife for over a month, yet you can't even watch me and Henry bonding for a day. Welcome to my world, Eddie." 

She got up and left to go get a soda from the bar in the living room. 

As she walked away, Eddie's head fell and he said to himself sadly, "You call me Edz..." 

Winter felt the silence of everyone as she walked into the living room. She tried not to look at anyone as she went behind the bar and grabbed a Diet Pepsi. Time felt like it was going very slow as all the eyes in the room were on her. She wanted to look up at Henry and meet his gaze, but she was scared that it could trigger another panic attack with the images of him hanging himself flashing through her mind. 

Eddie walked up from behind her, and it felt like the room fell even more silent as he walked behind the bar and opened the bar fridge. It was as if everyone wanted to see how they acted together now that their secret was out. 

Winter poured her soda in a glass filled with ice. 

Eddie grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and a shot glass. 

Winter looked over at Eddie pouring himself a drink, and said softly, "You shouldn't drink alcohol for twenty-four hours. The pain killer I injected you with needs to wear off before you drink."

Eddie sighed, put down the bottle and glass and grabbed a bottle of water. He silently walked over to an empty chair by the window in between Bill and Ben and remained quiet. 

Winter continued to stand at the bar, looking down at the wooden table. Henry sat in his chair right in front of her, just ten feet away. He continued to watch her as she stared down at the table, wishing she would just look over at him.

"You know what..." Ben broke the silence, "I have an idea. It's not fair that the clown pin-pointed the three of you and exposed all your secrets on everybody. I say that me, Bev, Bill, Mike and Richie all tell everyone our darkest secrets so Winter, Eddie and Henry don't feel so down about it." 

No one said anything as Ben looked around the room. 

"Okay, I'll start!" Ben said, "I was anorexic all through university and in my mid-twenties."

Everyone looked over at Ben, surprised by his confession. Only Winter didn't look over at him; She continued to look at the bar as she sipped her Diet Pepsi. 

Henry continued to look at Winter; Just waiting for any moment for her to look over at him. 

"Obviously I had a weight problem when I was a teenager. After a while, I became obsessed with being healthy, and I ended up falling on the other side of the spectrum of weight problems. No one knew about it except for me, and now all you wonderful people know."

"I m-made out with G-Gwyneth Paltrow last year o-on set of o-one of my movies," Bill said. 

Richie laughed, "What?! Obviously you're keeping that a secret 'cause you're both married. If I wasn't married and I were you, I'd be telling everyone."

"Why did that happen, Bill?" Mike asked, a little amused by the confession. 

Bill rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face, "I-I was a li-little drunk, and she came up to m-m-me and said she loves my books a-and is a mega-fan." 

"So, wait..." Richie smiled, "You made out with her because she's a big fan of yours? What do you do at your meet-and-greets? Do you set aside the regular fans from the mega-fans, and then make out with the mega-fans 'cause they love your books? Should I be doing this, too, with my fans? I really would enjoy some lip-action." 

Bill laughed, "N-No!" He composed himself and said, "I was drunk and ev-everyone was criticizing me f-for my endings. When she s-s-said that she loved my books, I... I d-don't know... It just happened."

"Winter said she loved one of your books yesterday at dinner. Did it take a lot of strength not to jump over the table and make out with her?" Richie asked. 

Winter scratched at her eyebrow; She didn't want to be brought up anymore tonight. 

Bill continued to laugh and blushed, "N-NO! It's someone e-elses turn now."

"Okay, okay..." Bev smiled, laughing over the conversation between Bill and Richie. She became serious and confessed, "My dad use to physically, sexually and verbally abuse me when I was a kid..."

This was the first time Winter had looked up from the bar and looked at Bev. 

"Then I married a man who was exactly like my dad." Bev looked around at everyone looking at her. Everyone was stunned. She continued on, "Look! It was in the past. My dad has passed and I'm divorcing my husband. So that's it. That's my truth. Mike, you go next." 

Respecting that Bev didn't want to explain furthering into her confession, everyone looked at Mike. 

"I lost my virginity to a teacher at Derry High School when I was seventeen," Mike said. 

"WHAT?!" Bill, Bev, Ben, Eddie and Richie asked. "WHO?!"

Henry looked away from Winter and looked at Mike; This was the first time he ever heard about this. 

Mike softly smiled, "I'm still friends with her today, so I'm not going to tell you guys who it is. But, yes, I had a sexual relationship with one of my teachers in high school." 

"And obviously still today..." Richie said. 

"That's just for me to know," he smiled. "Richie?"

"I got nothing!" Richie shrugged. 

"Come on, Richie!" Bev said, "You know all our dark secrets!" 

Richie sighed as he tried to think of something to say. He began to burst out laughing and said, "No, I can't say that." 

"What?" Ben asked. 

Richie continued to laugh more, "No, I can't say it!" He took a moment to think about it, "Okay, since I'm already an asshole and everyone knows me as an asshole, I'm going to say it anyway..."

The room became quiet as they waited for Richie to talk. Winter looked over at him, expecting whatever he was going to say was going to be a joke. 

Richie continued to laugh, "I'm a little jealous that Eddie got to ride on Winter's magic carpet ride."

"RICHIE!" Eddie, Ben, Bill and Bev shouted. 

Winter rolled her eyes, grabbed her soda and walked out of the living room, leaving to go up the stairs to her room. 

Henry eyed her as she walked away and turned his head towards the staircase watching her walk up to her room. He knew she needed some time alone. When she was out of view, he looked at Richie; "Why did you have to say that?" 

Richie, still laughing, said, "It came to my mind and I thought it was funny!" 

"You're a real asshole!" Eddie said. "You just did that so you wouldn't have to say what your real secret is." 

Richie shrugged, "Sorry, guys..." he tried to keep in his laughter but was still failing. 

Mike rolled his eyes, and then asked Eddie, "How are you feeling?" 

Eddie shrugged, "I don't feel anything. I just feel like an idiot..." Eddie continued after a few seconds of silence when he was ready to talk, "We bumped into each other at the hospital in January..." -- Winter -- "...and then we just began hanging out. I was separating from my wife in the wintertime, so I moved in with Winter..."

Henry stared at the bar table in front of him, wondering when it would be a good time to go up and talk to Winter. He was also trying his hardest to act composed as he listened to Eddie talking. 

Mike looked at Henry, sensing how uncomfortable he was listening to Eddie. 

"She was just so sad, and I was sad, so we decided to move forward together..." He stopped as he had flashbacks over the memories he had with Winter when they were happy together at the beginning of the year; "She's the strongest person I've ever met... She told me that she once fixed her own dislocated shoulder, and stitched herself up in a hotel room with no pain killers or anything other than a few shots of alcohol..." 

Henry put his hand to his head and rubbed the top of his forehead. He thought about the wounds he left on her chest and shoulder. He knew Eddie was talking about that. Henry wished he would just stop talking. 

Eddie continued, "Like, who does that, right? Stitch up their own wounds with barely anything? She's just the strongest, most compassionate and loving person I know..." 

Mike looked again at Henry and said, "Maybe we should talk about something else." 

"I should go to bed, guys..." Eddie stood up, "The pain killer is making me really tired." 

"Goodnight, Eddie!" Richie, Bev, Ben, Bill and Mike said as he passed by the group and walked up the stairs. 

As the group began talking about different other things, Henry snuck up from his chair and followed Eddie upstairs. 

When Eddie closed his bedroom door behind him, Henry opened it. 

Eddie turned to Henry; "Oh, shit!" 

Henry threw Eddie up towards the wall and pinned him by the scruff of his shirt. 

Eddie looked at Henry, seeing the same look in his eyes when Henry got angry in high school. He was nervous as he said, "Henry, I'm sorry, but you guys weren't together for four years! She was single!" 

"I don't care about that! You fucking lied to me, man! That's what I care about!"

Mike, Bev, Bill, Richie and Ben heard Henry upstairs talking to Eddie. They all didn't realize that Henry snuck away when Eddie left. All five of them rushed upstairs. 

"What's wrong with you?!" Henry continued as the rest of the gang appeared at the doorframe, "You saw how depressed I was! I spilled my guts out to you! You fucking helped me write an ad to find Winter in the paper! You --" He twisted his face trying to understand where Eddie's mind could have been at; "How could you help me write an ad, see how depressed I was, and not at least tell me that she was safe?! Why would you help me write that ad when you knew where she was all along?! And, you telling me to move on?! What kind of manipulative shit is all of that, man?!"

Bill, Ben, Bev, Mike and Richie continued to watch, making sure that they weren't going to get physical. 

"I'm sorry, Henry... I was scared I was going to lose her..." Eddie said scared. 

"H-Henry, m-maybe you should let g-g-go of him..." Bill suggested. 

All of them saw that look in his eyes that made them remember the Henry Bowers in the jacket from high school, and they were nervous to try and stop him. 

Henry pressed him more up to the wall, "The entire time since you've been at my shop, I've had her address right in my computer system under your profile! Since March I've had her address in my computer, and I never knew it! That's the Castle Rock mansion she lives at, isn't it?! It's not your fucking mansion -- It's the celebrities house she lives at! The entire time, man! The entire time I was looking for a way to contact her, and her address was right there! You KNEW I was looking through phonebooks for her to make sure she was okay! And, that wasn't your wife that called you that day, it was Winter, wasn't it?! You probably didn't even tell her that we had coffee together, did you?!" 

In her room, Winter stood still as she heard Henry's voice yelling in the hallway. 

"Oh, no!" she said to herself. She ran out to the hallway and saw the group standing at Eddie's door. 

"Oh, hey, Winter, how's it going?" Richie grinned, feeling how awkward everything had become between everybody. 

"What's going--" she saw Henry pinning Eddie to the wall, "Henry, let him go!" 

Henry looked at Winter and let Eddie go.

Eddie rubbed at his shoulder and tried to regain his strength after being yelled at. 

Henry looked at Winter, still angry and asked, "Did Eddie tell you that he came to my shop in March to get his car fixed?! Did he tell you that we had coffee together for an hour after I fixed his car?!" 

Winter stared at Henry's face confused, "What are you talking--" Then Winter remembered the day she was at home waiting for Eddie to come back from Derry with pizza after getting his car fixed.

"You didn't know, did you?!" Henry asked her. That look was still in his eyes, but it never scared Winter. 

Winter looked at Eddie, who was looking at the ground, unable to meet her gaze; "Eddie, that was the day you came back from Derry and told me that I was delusional to think that Henry would ever find me again, and you asked me to secure the relationship with you!" 

Henry's blood was boiling. 

"It's taking me a lot right now not to punch you in the face!!" Henry said, walking back over to Eddie.

Bill and Ben blocked Henry from going over to hit Eddie. 

"Why would you secure our relationship after seeing Henry, Edz?! Why wouldn't you tell me?!" Winter asked, feeling betrayed. 

"I was scared to lose you, Winter..." Eddie confessed, "I fucked up. I'm so sorry." 

"Yeah, well, it sounds like you've fucked up a lot of your relationships!" Henry snapped. 

"You could have at least told me! It was my right to choose what I would have wanted to do! You totally took that away from me!" Winter said, feeling disappointed. 

Eddie knew, at that moment, that he had ruined everything with Winter. 

"Okay, guys! This is enough!" Bev said, "We are all here to fight this clown, and all this stuff needs to be put aside until we know that the clown is dead!"

Henry continued to glare at Eddie. He smacked the doorframe with his hand and went downstairs. 

Winter watched Henry walk away, and looked at Eddie again; Eddie looked back at her. She shook her head sadly at him before walking back to her room and closing the door behind her. 

Eddie closed his door, wanting to be alone. 

"S-Shit, guys..." Bill said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Winter went into her private washroom in her bedroom and stared at her sad wet eyes in the mirror. Everything that happened today was just too much to handle. She wondered how Eddie could have kept that from her, that he had hung out with Henry, and still acted no different whenever she talked about Henry to him.

"What the fuck?!" she exclaimed to herself as she hit the sink with the side of her fist. 

She looked down at her arm as it began to burn randomly. The burning was coming from where Lily had gripped her arm and scratched her when the clown was taking her away from Winter in the sewers. The skin surrounding it was becoming red and itchy, like it had just happened. 

Winter opened the mirror medicine cabinet and looked to see if there was any cream or Polysporin. There was nothing. 

She closed the medicine cabinet, and there in the mirror reflected the little girl she tried to save fifteen years ago standing in the tub. 

Lily. 

Winter kept her eyes on the reflection in the mirror as she remained in shock. The little girl was covered in sewage water and was wearing Winter's jacket that she had given her to keep her warm. 

"You didn't save me, Winter... I tried to help you, but you couldn't help me..." she said. 

Winter pursed her lips as she continued to stare at the little girl; "I know..." She knew it was a trick from the clown, but she wasn't afraid. She was angry. 

"It's better this way... That I died... If I lived and was taken out of the sewers with you that day, ten years after that date, I would have been at a house-party where my friend, Vanessa, would give me a needle for the first time full of Heroin. Since I was already so traumatized by watching the clown eat my brother, then eating Georgie, and also being traumatized in the sewers, I would have taken the toxin just to feel all the traumas go away. The first rush would have been the beginning of my addiction problems. After the Heroin, I would have dropped out of school and began prostituting myself for money to continue to feel that high. I would have been raped multiple times, abused, torn down, and eventually I would be found dead in The Barrens after suffering from an overdose at twenty-three." 

Winter continued to stare at the little girl in her tub, listening to her. She shook her head, "That wouldn't have happened. I would have kept in touch with you and made sure you were all right. We would have stayed close."

Lily shook her head, "Trauma is like a virus. Once it gets in, it just grows. Just like a disease, addiction or cancer. It will find its way in to take over your body and kill it. There's no stopping a virus like that; Once it finds you, it finds it's way to eat you. You might be dealing with that virus healthier than I would have, and that's why it's better that I died and you stayed alive. Henry is no different than me, though. He handled the trauma with toxins just like I would have if I stayed alive. He had found his anecdote to his version of the virus, though... It was you... But, once the virus finds its way into the body, it can never go away. Henry just found out how to detain it. If the trauma gets too much for him again, the addiction will overpower his willpower."

Winter sucked her front teeth; She knew the clown was trying to get into her head. 

The clown's voice came from the little girls mouth; "When you and Henry try to come and kill me, just fall to your knees and I will make you both float. You won't have to worry about traumas again if you just float with me."

Winter could feel her chest filling up with anger at the clowns voice; "I've seriously has enough of your fucking bullshit tonight! I'm not scared of you anymore -- I'm pissed off at you! We will kill you, you fucking piece of shit!" 

Winter turned her head towards the tub, and there was no one there. She looked back at the reflection of the tub in the mirror, and Lily wasn't there anymore. 

"That's right... Fucker..." Winter said quietly. 

"How about we all break up to talk to them?" Ben suggested as they stood in the hallway, "Bev and I can talk to Eddie."

"I'll go talk to Winter," Richie said. 

All of them looked at Richie. 

"I don't know if you're the best person to go talk to Winter..." Bev said, "No offence."

"I can be serious!" Richie scrunched his nose as he said it. 

"I'll go see Henry," Mike said. "Bill, maybe you'll want to come with me?"

"Yeah, s-sure." 

Bill and Mike went downstairs to talk to Henry. 

Bev and Ben knocked at Eddie's door. 

Richie went to Winter's door and knocked. 

"Come in..." Winter announced as she went over to her duffel bag after brushing her teeth. 

Richie came in the room and smiled, "Hey there, Heartbreaker!" 

Winter looked up to the ceiling and blew out some air. 

Richie sang in a high-pitch voice and danced his way in the room:

_"'I should have known right from the start,_

_You'd go and break my heart!'"_

Winter stared at him unimpressed at his Mariah Carey's Heartbreaker impression as he motioned his hands back and forth from his heart as if it were beating.

"I can always sense when my humour is appreciated," he said sarcastically. 

"What's up, Richie?" she asked as she folded some clothes on the bed. 

"I just came in here to see how you're doing. Believe it or not, I can actually be serious," he said as he flicked some of her items on her night stand. He sat on her bed; "Pretty crazy night." 

"Yeah, well, that fucking clown tore me a new one." 

Richie laughed lightly, "Yeah! It definitely did!" There was silence for a moment before he said, "I felt bad, too, that all your secrets were wrongfully exposed, so I thought I would make you feel a bit better if I came to you, and only you, to tell you my real secret." 

Winter looked at him with her tired, yet, interested eyes, "Okay... What is it?" 

He stared at her and said, "You were the only girl I ever had a crush on."

Winter looked to the side of the wall, not knowing what to say to this; "Richie, with Henry and Eddie right now, I can't deal with another--"

"No, Winter..." Richie intervened, "Read between the lines to what I'm saying to you... You _were_ the _only_ _girl_ I _ever_ had a crush on."

Winter stared at him, not understand what he was saying.

"I don't have a crush on you anymore. That was in high school when I had a crush on you. I've gone all these years only having a crush on one girl... You. You were the first and the last girl I've ever had a crush on. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Winter continued to stare at him, waiting for him to say it.

His eye went wide that she wasn't saying anything; "All my friends like chicken sandwiches, but I like beef sandwiches?!" he reminded her. 

_** June 1997 ** _

_Richie continued, "Like... all your friends love chicken sandwiches, and you thought you loved chicken sandwiches, too. Even just last month, in May, you saw this nice looking chicken sandwich, and for that moment, as you looked at it, you wanted it, too. But then something happened this month (June)... You saw a beef sandwich, and you think you're realizing that you prefer beef sandwiches over chicken sandwiches, but society says you need to like chicken sandwiches, because if you like beef sandwiches, you're not normal."_

"Oh yeah!" Winter smiled for the first time in a few hours, "I remember that conversation in The Barrens." She looked at him and reassuringly smiled, "If you're telling me that you like men, you know I still love you." 

Richie smiled, feeling relieved. 

"I'm actually flattered that I was your one and only female crush." She continued to softly smile at her friend, "Wait... You're not going to tell me that you turned gay when you saw me naked on the picnic table, are you?" 

Richie snorted out a laugh, but then he became serious, "I'm so glad you're the one who said it and not me. But, yes, Winter... You turned me off of women forever..." 

Winter and Richie kept eye-contact for a few seconds, and then they both bursted out laughing. 

"But I'm curious -- You said you liked women, or chicken sandwiches, in May of 1997, but then something happened in June 1997 that made you realize that you like men, or beef sandwiches... What happened?"

Richie softly smiled, "Now, that... That will remain my own secret." 

Winter nodded with a smile and respected his decision to keep it private, "Okay." 

_** June 1997 ** _

_"You all good, Eddie?" Richie asked through the door to the library washroom._

_When there was no answer, Richie opened the door that was unlocked. He saw Eddie in the corner of the washroom, and didn't realize that it would have been better if he knocked first._

_Richie stood at the doorframe, watching one of his best friends pleasuring himself with his cock in his hand. The look on Eddie's face was pure ecstasy and pleasure as he continued to rub at his penis, and moan. Within those few moments, Richie wished it was him pleasuring Eddie. He could feel his own penis becoming hard._

_Eddie turned around and saw Richie at the door, "Get the fuck out of here, Richie!"_

_Richie's eyes went wide at Eddie catching him, and he quickly closed the door. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

_Richie stood on the other side of the closed door, his eyes wide in shock but wishing he could see more. He didn't know why he was feeling the way he was feeling for his friend, but it both excited him and scared him at the same time._

Winter quickly glanced out the window and saw Mike, Bill and Henry talking on the driveway. She peacefully watched them, wondering what they were talking about. She wondered, after seeing Lily in the tub, if she would ever be able to tell Bill the truth about Georgie. 

"Don't hate Eddie for being an idiot. He's being an idiot and made stupid decisions because that's what men do when they're in love," Richie said from the bed. "Everyone makes stupid decisions when they're nervous that they will lose the love of the people they love." 

Winter listened to what Richie was saying, and apart of what he was saying reminded her of how she kept the truth from Bill for fifteen years about what really happened to Georgie. 

"Can you elaborate?" Winter asked. 

"Well..." Richie shrugged, "We're all selfish. We lie and cover stories to protect ourselves, because we're scared that the people we're lying to and hiding things from will see us differently. It's a selfish thing to do, but it comes from a place of love to protect the person they love. I'm sure the reason why Eddie never told you that he hung out with Henry, was because he thought he was protecting you, in his own selfish way."

"And, so, I lied to Bill, because I thought I was protecting him from knowing the truth and looking at me differently. It makes me selfish, but it was all done from a place of love..." Winter said out-loud to herself. "But he deserves to know the truth." 

Richie stared at her blankly, "What? Weren't we talking about Eddie keeping the truth about Henry from you?" 

Winter looked over to Richie laying in her bed, "I need to go talk to Bill!" 

She quickly walked out of her room, leaving Richie in there; "So, wait, you have a crush on Bill now?!" he yelled as she ran down the stairs. 

Outside on the driveway, Henry, Mike and Bill were talking about what the turtle showed Henry the night that he hung himself and died for two minutes. Mike and Henry explained to Bill that his death caused a ripple effect in everyone's lives even though they wouldn't have realized it, and that they needed to put everything back on its correct course of life by using the turtle to help defeat Pennywise, and to protect Winter and the others, especially Eddie (More will be revealed at the end of the story). 

"A-And you're okay w-with ev-everything, Henry?" Bill asked, shocked by everything that the turtle had shown him. 

Henry nodded, "I'm at peace with it. I like that I have clarity knowing that Winter is going to be okay once I pass on."

"Doesn't it f-freak you out knowing h-how and w-when you're going to die?" Bill asked. 

Henry shrugged, "Like I said, man; I'm at peace with it. I'm happy I get a long life. I just need to reverse the ripple so everything comes out the way it's supposed to in the future. Honestly, Bill, Pennywise doesn't scare me at all. I'm more scared of my genetics. I just have to protect Winter and everyone else to get the universe back on the right axis. As long as I can protect you guys, then I know Winter's going to be okay after I pass on. Just don't tell anyone else, okay? This is just between the three of us. If Winter, or Eddie, or anyone knows what I told you, it could fuck everything up for their futures, and my number one priority is knowing Winter will be safe."

The three of them stopped talking when Winter came running out to them. 

Henry watched her approaching, feeling his stomach flip with butterflies. He noticed she was still having problems making eye-contact with him. 

"Hey..." she said to everyone. "Is it okay if I talk to Bill alone?" 

"Y-Yeah, of course," Bill said.

They all thought she would have wanted to talk to Henry. Mike and Henry nodded and walked towards the hotel. 

"W-What do y-you want to talk about?" Bill asked. 

Winter closed her eyes tightly for a moment as she breathed in the night air. She opened her eyes and a tear was already forming in her eyelid; "Bill, I lied to you that day when you visited me in the hospital and you asked me if I saw Georgie when I was stuck in the sewers." 

Bill stared at her, and had troubles controlling his stutter at the mention of Georgie, "Wh-Wh-What are y-y-you talking a-about?" 

"I'm sorry, Bill, but I couldn't find away to tell you the truth, and that's something I've dealt with everyday for fifteen years." She inhaled quickly and began, "On the first night I was in the sewers, Georgie was there - he was alive..."

Bill put his hand to his mouth in shock. 

"He saw me and called my name. I went over to him... He was missing an arm... I did everything I could to try and stop the bleeding and to try and get him out of there..." Winter began to tear up, "While I carried him to find a way out, he hummed Beethoven's 'Fur Elise' to me..."

Bill began to tear up. He pinched the bridge of his nose at the mention of Georgie's favourite song their mom use to play on piano. 

"When he stopped breathing, I tried for about fifteen minutes to try and revive him again. He had lost too much blood, though... I've been holding onto that for fifteen years, Bill... I thought I could have done more to save him..." 

Bill pulled her into a hug as they both cried. 

"Y-You did ev-everything you could..." Bill said into her ear. "T-The fact that G-G-Georgie was with someone h-h-he knew and l-loved when he died, is what g-g-gives me peace about it."

Winter continued to cry as they held each other. All these years she kept the truth locked away, scared that Bill would hate her, but knowing the truth is what he really needed to give him peace. 

"T-Thank you for being there wi-with him. Just you b-being with him probably m-made h-h-him less a-afraid, and I-I'm so grateful f-f-for that," he cried. 

"I'm sorry I kept the truth from you for so long, Bill. I'm so sorry," she cried. 

"Th-Thank you s-s-so much, Winter!" he hugged her tightly as he cried. "T-Thank you for telling me." 

Winter breathed in deeply, feeling a weight lift off her chest from hearing a different perspective of how Georgie felt then the one she believed for the past fifteen years. Hearing Bill speak made her feel at peace with what happened, and she could feel her guilt over Georgie disappear, like his soul released from her and was able to move on to the other side. She was finally able to let him go. She hugged Bill even tighter with so much gratitude, love and freedom of Georgie's soul leaving to go to the other side. 


	31. Part 31: The Turtle Theory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NANANANANANA NEW PART!!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter was back in her bedroom, keeping her mind busy by organizing what she brought in her duffel bag and trying not to think about Eddie or Henry.

There was a knock at her door.

She walked over to the door and opened it.

Henry was there; "Can I come in?"

Winter nodded, "Yeah." She moved so he could come in.

Henry entered and closed the door behind him. He watched her as she went back to folding clothes and sorting out her lotions and body butter on her bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to make casual conversation.

"I'm just trying to clear my mind..." she said, looking down at her stuff, still unable to look Henry in the eyes.

He quietly watched her as she sorted through her things.

"We need to talk..." he said.

Winter kept trying to look back at him, but it broke her heart too much to keep her eyes on him.

"Why can't you look at me?" he asked concerned.

"Because I'm in shock, Henry!" she put her hands over her face and sighed. She put them down; "I don't even know where we're supposed to start with all of this now that we both know everything."

"You and Eddie was what you were going to tell me before the clown did, wasn't it?" he asked, "You know my suicide attempt was what I was wanting to tell you, and I wish all that happened tonight didn't happen so we could come out about all of this at our own pace."

Winter stayed quiet for a moment before she asked, "Where should we start first?"

Henry scratched his forehead, wondering where to start as well, "Let's start with you and Eddie, because I think what I needed to tell you is probably going to take longer to talk about."

Winter nodded, "Alright..." She glimpsed up at him repeatedly from her luggage. "How do you feel about what happened between me and Eddie?" she asked. 

Henry was silent for a moment before he said, "Honestly, it sucked finding out the way I did, but if he helped you through any type of dark time where you needed help and a companion, then in my mind that mean't he was keeping you safe." 

Winter nodded and thought about it, "Yeah, he did. It ended up being a messy situation since he's married, but I was really depression and had anxiety issues before we started our relationship." 

Winter still couldn't look up at Henry's eyes. 

"Please, Winter..." Henry went up in front of her, put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face so she would look at him, "Please look at me."

Winter tried her hardest to look into his eyes, but the tears were still welling up behind her eyes. All night she had cried so much and she didn't know how there could still be tears to cry, but there were.

"Okay..." Henry began, "I think the major issue here is what I did after you left."

Winter quickly looked away as she gathered her thoughts and let the tears begin to fall. She turned to him, "What if you didn't come back to life, Henry?! How do you think I would have reacted after I found out that you actually succeeded in killing yourself?! How come no one tried to contact me to let me know what happened?!"

Henry continued to look at her as she cried.

Her tone became softer, "I can't even imagine my life if I found out that you killed yourself... I would have gone back to Pittsburgh to be with you in the hospital if I knew... You stayed day and night at the hospital for nearly a month when I was there after being rescued from the sewers, and I can't believe that I wasn't there for you."

Henry cleared his throat before he said, "Winter, you left with no contact information. Besides, I wouldn't have even wanted you to know what I did, because I wouldn't want you to suffer again through what you were put through with my addiction and the three of them being a danger around you. I didn't know if I would have walked out of the hospital with them still attached to me or not. I knew when I left that I wasn't going to drink again, so I could bring you back to a life that you deserve to have. You didn't deserve to be living with an alcoholic and poltergeists. I needed to fix everything before I looked for you."

Winter shook her head as she continued to cry; "It still kills me that you nearly died, and it was because I left. I just thought maybe your mom would have called my parents and they would have told me."

Henry spoke softly, "I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry... I was drunk, I missed you, the three of them were taunting me, and I heard the turtle telling me that the only way to have them leave me was to kill myself. If I killed myself, they wouldn't have a body to attach themselves to anymore..."

Winter looked at him with her wet eyes, curious about the turtle talking to him.

"The turtle told me to trust It and just do what I wanted to do. I'm sorry that I wanted to do it, but I was in a relationship with you for eleven years and I didn't know life without you. You were..." he thought about his words. "Fuck... you've _always_ been my life... I spent the last four years looking for you non-stop and building my life off of knowing that you will be back with me again one day. So, when the turtle told me it was okay for me to do it to get rid of them, I did it, and it worked. Ace, Vic and Belch are not attached to me anymore, and it's what I needed to do."

Winter continued to stare at Henry, finally able to look into his eyes. He was the love of her life and it broke her heart that she nearly lost him to suicide.

He continued on, "And, you know what... You're the only person I've ever wanted! If I still couldn't find you today, I would keep trying when I'm in my forties - fifties - sixties! I would keep trying to find you until my last day on earth so I could kiss you, hold you, tell you how much I love you again..." He went up closer to Winter as she rested her back against the wall. He moved the hair out of her face, "That's why I was so mad at Eddie tonight. Even if you guys were a thing back in the winter, I would still expect him to tell me you were okay... That you were safe... You know your safety has always been my number one priority..."

Winter was lightly crying with everything he was telling her. She whispered, "Even if we weren't together, I don't want to live in a world where you're not in it." She placed her hands gently on his neck, softly rubbing her fingertips where the rope would have strangled him. She looked into his eyes, and whispered, "I love you so much."

Henry's breath got caught up in his chest. It had been so many years since she told him that she loves him. "I've been waiting so long to hear that..." he whispered, putting his forehead to hers as he said, "I love you, too... More than anything else in this world." He put his hands on her shoulder, the shoulder that he hurt, and stared into her eyes as he rubbed the fabric of her shirt with his thumb; "Can I see?" he asked.

Winter could see in his eyes that he looked nervous to see the damage he had done to her left side of her chest and shoulder. She quickly nodded.

Winter pulled her t-shirt off of her body. She was standing there in her purple bra and black shorts.

Henry stared at all the separate healed wounds that went up from her chest to her shoulder. He looked quickly at her flower tattoo and knew she got it there to cover more of the scars.

The first scar on her chest, he planted his soft lips on it and kissed it, then whispered, "I'm sorry." He kissed the next scar, whispering again, "I'm sorry." He continued to kiss each scar going up to her shoulder, repeating, "I'm sorry," as he kissed them.

Winter looked to the other side of the room, as he continued to kiss up her shoulder, and she put her hand to her forehead as she began to shed some tears. With every kiss and every apology, she could feel their souls healing together over what had happened. Every kiss on each scar filled her heart up with peace and love and more of the darkness would disappear. She could feel herself healing from his love.

Winter looked back at him as he kissed her last scar on her shoulder. She placed her hands around his head and neck. When he looked at her face, she pulled his lips into hers.

They kissed passionately with so much emotions that had been surfacing throughout the night. Winter ran her hands around the back of his head and shoulders. Henry grabbed her tightly by the waist. They alternated from kissing each others lower lips to their upper lips as they moved their hands rapidly to feel each other's skin. They could feel how much they loved each other and it felt so powerful and amazing.

Henry kissed from her lips down to her jawline and down to her neck, moving his hands rapidly on her waist.

"Make love to me, Henry..." Winter whispered, wanting to feel their bodies back together, the way they were supposed to be, making love.

Henry looked at her face and he wanted to make love to her so bad. It had been four years since he had sex and he missed feeling the loving connection they experienced together when they were making love.

He pressed his lips back against hers, and they kissed very passionately. Henry began tugging at the bottom of his shirt to take it off.

"BOOOOWERS!"

At first they didn't hear the voice coming from outside the window as Winter reached down to unzip his pants and Henry continued to kiss her.

"HENRY BOWERS!" the voice screamed in a rage.

Henry jumped at the scream.

Winter looked at the window from where they stood at the other side of the room.

"HEENRRRRYY!!!!"

"Who's that?!" Winter asked.

Henry ran over to the window and looked outside in the darkness. He saw the 1958 Red Plymouth Fury parked on the side of the road. Right away, Henry felt a shiver go through his spin and fear for the kid inside.

"It's Arnie!" Henry said as he zipped up his pants and adjusted his shirt, "I completely forgot about him!" He headed towards the door.

"Who's Arnie?" Winter asked concerned.

"My employee..." he quickly looked at Winter, "Stay up here." He ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Winter, of course, didn't listen to him and didn't want to leave him alone to go out by himself during these dark times in Derry. She quickly put her shirt back on and ran down the stairs behind him, but he was already out the door.

Ben, Bill, Richie, Mike, Bev and Eddie all came out of their rooms from Arnie yelling outside and looked at Winter going down the stairs.

"Who is that?" Ben asked.

"Some guy named Arnie?" Winter said, unsure, as she continued to run down the stairs and disappeared out the front door. She stood on the porch as she watched Henry approach the guy in the car.

"Shit!" Mike said, "Henry and me forgot to tell you guys about Arnie!"

"Who?!" Richie asked.

All of them ran downstairs.

Henry reluctantly went up to the vehicle and looked at Arnie through his open window. "How did you know I was here, Arnie?"

Henry noticed that it wasn't Arnie's eyes anymore. His eye's were bulging out from their sockets, and he wasn't blinking as he looked at Henry. They were the eyes of a psychotic man. This was not the kid he had taught all he knew about cars and worked beside for over a year. This was not the nerdy kid who loved to read and play chess that Henry respected so much. This was a new version of Arnie. The version that Pennywise created.

"A birdie told me," Arnie joked, but said it very seriously.

Henry looked up, finding it difficult to look at Arnie with his 1950's getup and completely new attitude.

"Why were you following me the other day in your truck, Henry?" he asked, looking at him seriously. "I don't like it when people follow me."

Henry sighed, "Just looking out for you, Arnie. You never answered my text message about if you wanted to continue to work for me."

"It depends on how the next day or so goes..." he said.

Henry looked at him, "What does that mean? What's It telling you to do? What are _they_ telling you to do?" Although Henry couldn't see Ace, Vic or Belch in the car with him, he knew they were there.

The rest of the gang joined Winter on the porch and were stunned to see the 1958 Red Plymouth Fury. They all hadn't seen it since high school when Henry was assigned to kill them. When they saw it back in 1997, it was a huge piece of junk. Now it was as if it came straight from the conveyer belt.

Richie stared at the vehicle and could feel the burn scar Henry gave him in the school parking lot start to burn. "You got to be shittin' me!" he said.

"Oh, my God..." Bev said with fear.

"W-Who is th-that?" Bill asked.

"That's Arnie Cunningham... He's the next Chosen One to kill us..." Mike said.

"WHAT?!" Eddie and Ben both asked.

"Thanks for telling us _now_ , Mike!" Richie exclaimed, "What's coming next that we weren't informed about?!"

Arnie looked towards the house from his window and grinned evilly and spoke loud enough for them all to hear, "Hey, look! It's everybody! Let's see if I know everybody!" He pointed towards them individually; "Mike Hanlon... Bill Denbrough... Beverly Marsh... Richie Tozier... Ben Hanscom... Eddie Kaspbrak... Oh, and..." He smiled up at Henry, "Who's that pretty one at the end, Henry?"

Henry glared at him.

"That wouldn't be... No... Is that Winter Callaghan? The famous Winter that you never shut up about?" he grinned.

"He fucking knows all our names!?" Eddie said in disbelief to Mike.

Mike and the rest of them continued to listen.

Henry rolled his eyes, "What do you want, Arnie?" he asked annoyed.

Arnie grinned up at Henry, "That's her, isn't it?"

Henry repeated louder as he was losing his patience, "What do you want, Arnie?!"

"To make sure you and her don't get in the way this time!" he said sternly, "They said that they're not here for you, Henry. They've always liked you, but they have a job to do if you both get in the way!"

"Is that what they said; That they like me?" Henry asked, "They will attach to you like leeches, Arnie. Ace, Vic and Belch are not your friends."

 _"Don't listen to him, Arnie! We have your back, he doesn't!"_ said a voice from the car. Henry heard it but still couldn't see anyone. He could tell the voice was Vic's.

"They did the same thing to me, too, when I was your age, man!" Henry said.

Arnie didn't care what Henry had to say to him. Henry could see that the Arnie he knew was totally gone.

"Just don't follow me, Henry!" Arnie said before driving away down the street.

Henry sighed in frustration and turned to look at everyone staring at him on the porch. "It's okay! You can all go back inside!" he told them.

Mike ran out to the road to catch up with Henry; To see what Arnie had to say to him.

One at a time, the group went back inside. The last to go in was Winter as she kept looking over at Henry as he talked to Mike.

They all went into the living room.

Bev, Ben and Richie sat on the sofa; Eddie and Bill sat on separate chairs apart from each other; Winter passed by Eddie without looking at him and stood at the back of the room, leaning against the wall.

Winter looked at the back of Eddie's head as he looked uncomfortable to be in the same room as her. She didn't know when this tension would blow over between the two of them, or if it ever would, but she wished the tension would eventually fade away.

The group noticed the turtle in Its aquarium at the front of the room. Winter smiled seeing Henry's pet turtle since it had been four years since she saw the cute little guy.

Mike entered the room.

"So, what else is there to tell us that you haven't, professor?" Richie asked annoyed.

Henry entered right after him.

Richie looked at Henry; "Henry, do you feel cheeped out that you only got a jacket, and this kid gets a whole fucking car?" He continued on, "Can you imagine if you had a demon car when you were out to kill us? You would have eliminated me and Eddie right away with that thing!"

Henry stood at the doorframe listening to Richie, but his eyes were on Winter in the back of the room. All he wanted was to be alone with her.

Winter's eyes felt like magnets to Henry as he walked over to her. He placed his hands around her waist and kissed her neck softly. She wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders and kissed his lips.

"God, I missed this so much. Did you want to go back upstairs?" Henry asked her quietly, "I just want to unwind from everything away from everybody else and spend one-on-one time with you." He kissed her neck again gently.

"I would love that," she smiled at him and stroked his cheek with her thumb, "But I think Mike said that you and him have to talk to everyone first."

"Shit... Right..." he said. Henry looked into her beautiful eyes and moved some hair from her face and placed it behind her ear and kissed her gently on the lips.

Eddie had quickly turned around to look at Winter. When he saw Henry and her kissing, he quickly looked back at the front of the room where the others were talking. He was still hurt, but he wanted to fix things with both her and Henry as soon as possible.

"Henry, do you want me to start?" Mike asked.

Henry went behind Winter so she could lean back on him. "Yeah, go ahead, man!" Henry said to him. He wrapped his arms around Winter's waist and looked peacefully at Mike as Winter hugged her arms on top of his. He had the side of his jaw resting at the side of her head, and he hugged her tight.

"So, you all met Arnie Cunningham out there. He has been assigned by Pennywise to kill all of us."

"You really know how to ease people's minds before bed, Mike. Have you ever thought of having kids? I'm sure they would love your bedtime stories!" Richie said sarcastically.

Bill sighed, "R-Richie, I would l-lo-love to g-g-go to bed eventually tonight, so c-can you let Mike talk?"

"It's, like, ten o'clock, dude!" Richie looked over at Bill, and could tell he wasn't in the mood; "Okay, fine... Proceed..."

"Thanks, guys!" Mike smiled. "So, I'll start off by saying that Henry and I began trying to figure out the magic and the science behind the turtle when Henry moved back to Derry about three years ago." He looked around the room, trying to get his thoughts together to tell the group. "If you all remember, I had the journal when I was a teenager by an unknown author who wrote about his journey after experimenting with the root called Ayawasca, which has the molecule called DMT that causes hallucinations and opens up your consciousness. The root showed him the history of The Barrens. This man saw when Pennywise arrived to earth off of an astroid, and he saw the Lucky Seven that were either all going to die trying to fight Pennywise, or only two would die in the success of killing Pennywise..."

Bill, Ben, Mike, Bev, Richie and Eddie all looked at each other. 

"We know who's one of the two," Ben said sadly. 

Mike nodded sadly, "That's right..." He took a second to regain his thoughts, "Since 1958, the clown has been trying to stop us. It tried to kill our parents so they wouldn't give birth to us. It assigned the Chosen One back then, which was Ace Merrill, with the help from his high school friends Vic and Belch. When they all failed to do what they were supposed to do, Pennywise killed them. Then, in 1997, when the clown came back to feed, It tried to stop us with the next Chosen One, which was Henry."

Richie turned around to look at Henry; "YEAH, HENRY! WO-HOO! YOU DA MAN" he shouted and raised his fist as if he were at a Metallica concert. 

Bev, Bill, Winter and Ben snickered. Henry cracked a smile and shook his head. 

"But, Henry never took the balloon of Its madness when he was a kid, because Winter popped it before he could take it, and so, it couldn't consume him. However, since he was chosen as a baby, he always had a little bit of the clown's anger in him. Pennywise tried to make the anger surface out of him by giving him Ace's jacket, so Ace could also try to take over Henry's body to help him fulfill Pennywise's plan... But..." Mike smiled at the two in the back of the room, "The love Henry has for Winter overpowered the anger and the power Ace had over him, so he obviously never killed any of us. In fact, he saved all of us in the sewers because he wanted to save Winter." 

Bev, Ben, Bill and Richie turned towards them and made a big "AWWWW!" to embarrass them. 

"Not even Nicolas Sparks could write that love story!" Bev grinned. 

Winter and Henry bursted out laughing at all of them and blushed. Henry quickly kissed the side of Winter's head.

Eddie rolled his eyes and kept his gaze on Mike. 

"So, here we are all today... We're about to go back in the sewers; Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day... Pennywise had already planned ahead in the spring of 1997 incase It couldn't kill us, and gave Its balloon of Madness to another little boy... Arnie Cunningham. Arnie is a seventeen year old kid from Derry High School. He works for Henry at his mechanic shop, and this kid is a real threat to us. Not only did Arnie grab the balloon and consumed all of Pennywise's madness, but he also has the help from Ace, Vic and Belch with the Plymouth Fury. He has also killed five people in Derry in the past week with the car."

Henry rubbed the top of his head as the stress of what Arnie was doing had really bothered him. He gently stepped aside from Winter and began to speak as he went up to stand with Mike to talk to everyone. 

"I've known Arnie for over a year. He volunteered a couple of summers ago at my shop where I took him under my wing and taught him how to build an engine and fix anything car related just like how my dad taught me. I hired him after that summer to work with me, and I have to say that he is by-far my favourite employee. He's like who I use to be before Pennywise came back in 1997. He's the sweetest kid I've ever met, and it's a shame what's happened to him..." Henry took a moment to reflect. 

Winter could see in Henry's eyes how much he cared for Arnie; As if Arnie were his own little brother, or his own kid. 

"That guy you saw me talking to outside is not the Arnie I've known for over a year. I've hung out with the dude outside of work, and that guy out there is not the guy I know. So, I'm going to try and figure out a plan to figure out how to keep us safe from him while keeping him safe and alive..." Henry looked around at everyone, "My plan right now is that no one is going to die, and that means him, too. I think once we destroy Pennywise, Arnie will go back to his real self." 

"But, Henry, after all this is done and Arnie is back to normal, if he's already killed five people, I'm the sure the police will know it was him and put him in prison," Ben said. 

Henry rubbed the small stubble on his chin and nodded, "He's already being investigated. Every single murder he's done was behind the wheel in that car. The car is supernatural, though... There is no evidence on the car that connects it to the crime-scenes, but the cops are definitely suspicious. Without physical evidence, though, they can't prosecute him." 

"What's the plan with him then?" Eddie spoke up quietly, "To avoid him until this is all done?" 

Henry looked at Eddie, putting aside their personal issues as he answered, "It's something I'm going to know in the morning, but that might be a possibility if we think he might not be a threat..." Henry paused as he thought about everything, "But, you didn't see the look in his eyes outside tonight like I did, and he does have Ace, Vic and Belch helping him out... I don't think he's going to make avoiding him easy..." He sighed as he tried to think about it, "I'll know more in the morning regarding a plan. Just leave that to me." 

Winter watched Henry admiringly. In high school, he use to be so shy that he wouldn't even say hi to these people in front of him -- He would only talk to her and Mike. She could see his uncle, Officer Jim Hopper, in his personality as he spoke to everyone.

Mike spoke up, "We'll bring Arnie back up in the morning then. Let's retract back to the turtle." 

Henry bit at his thumb gently as he looked over at Winter; He didn't want to bring it up since it was still a sensitive subject to her, but he went on; "The night I hung myself, the turtle talked to me. It told me that I could trust in It to help me get rid of Ace, Vic and Belch as long as I did it. When I did it, I died for two minutes. During those two minutes, I saw my future, as well as some other peoples futures."

"Wait... WHAT?!" Richie said in disbelief. "You know my future?!" 

Henry shook his head, "I don't know everybody's futures, but a couple of you. I'm not going to say anything because no one should know too much about their own future." 

"Gee, thanks, Doctor Emmet Brown!" Richie said, referencing to Back To The Future. 

"But, I messed up the natural timeline of the universe when I died. When I died, the universe was tricked and thought I permanently died which caused a ripple in some of your lives. It caused future events in some of your lives to happen now, within the past four years, that aren't actually supposed to happen until the _actual_ day of my death, which was not supposed to be the day that I hung myself." 

"So you screwed up the Space Time Continuum? I change my mind; Henry, you're Marty McFly and Mike is Doc Emmet Brown!" Richie said. "Good going, Marty!" he joked. 

"Do you _ever_ take _anything_ seriously, Richie?" Eddie asked with his hand on his forehead annoyed. 

Richie turned to Eddie, "Great Scotts, Eddie! Of course I do!" He turned back to Mike and Henry, "So, to fix everything, we need a power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity! GREAT SCOTT! That is a bolt of lightning!" He turned quickly back towards Eddie sitting behind him and pulled out a lighter from his own pocket, throwing it at him; "LIGHTENING BOLT!" 

Eddie dodged the lighter and rolled his eyes. 

"Richie, we wanna go to bed, man!" Ben said. 

"Fine! No more talking from me!" Richie said.

Henry went back over to the back of the room to Winter as Mike was going to take over the rest. He went back to his spot behind Winter so she could lean into him. He kissed the side of her head gently, and she responded by lifting her face up a bit and kissed his jawline. She could feel how much she loved this man in every embrace that they had together. 

"How do we get the timeline back to where it's supposed to be, Mike?" Bev asked. "Like, does this mean that me divorcing my husband isn't actually supposed to happen until the future because of this timeline switch?" 

Eddie listened carefully, wondering the same thing for himself and Myra.

"I don't know, Bev..." Mike said honestly. "The timeline of the present and the future have crossed together because of Henry dying. We don't know what events that have happened in the past four years are actually supposed to be in the present or is supposed to happen in the future." 

"S-So we're l-living in a parallel universe. W-We're in a twilight zone," Bill summed up. 

"Now do you have any questions, Richie?" Mike asked him since he had said he wouldn't talk the rest of the night. 

"I don't get it!" Richie shrugged. "I'm sure it doesn't affect me." 

"How do we fix this timeline issue? What happens when it's all fixed?" Ben asked. 

Mike answered, "It all started with the turtle helping Henry get rid of Ace, Vic, Belch and what was in him from Pennywise. Most likely we need to kill Pennywise to get things on the right time track. As for what happens after we fix everything, you guys will most likely not remember the events that took place in the past four years that are not actually supposed to happen until the future." 

Eddie continued to blink as he listened to Mike, and he scrunched his forehead in thought. He questionably looked over to Winter. 


	32. Part 32: Making Love & Keeping Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
It was ten-thirty at night. Winter was in her pajamas: A black Seether tank top and her pink panties. She was applying body butter onto her legs when her door opened. 

Henry came in with a smile and his two duffel bags. He was wearing his black AC/DC t-shirt and his boxers. He was officially moving into Winter's hotel room. 

Winter looked at the two duffel bags he brought, "For someone who just lives down the street, you brought a lot of stuff." 

Henry smiled at her, putting one of the bags to the corner of the room and the other one on the bed. He sat down on the mattress and looked at her. The man he had been for the past four years who gave the impression as a heartbroken man was now carrying himself as the luckiest man in the world. Even his eyes showed a spark that wasn't there for years. 

Winter saw the love and happiness in his face and it made her want to hold onto it forever. She scooted over closer to him and kissed him on the lips. 

"So..." he said before giving her another kiss, "The reason why I have this bag --" the one on the bed -- "Is because..." he zipped it open and began to pull out wrapped packages one by one, "The time we've been apart, I have missed four Christmas' with you and four of your Birthdays."

Winter's mouth fell open in shock as he had pulled out eight wrapped gifts from the bag. She looked up at him, feeling her heart fill up; "Henry, I didn't expect-- You didn't have to..." she was lost for words. 

Henry lovingly smiled at her, "I have survived the last four years off of believing that you and me would be back together again. Whenever Christmas time came around, or March 17--" her Birthday -- "came around, the only thing that kept me happy was thinking that there will be a time when you and me would be back together, and Christmas time and your Birthday would feel normal for me again." 

Winter felt her heart melt. She put her hand to her chest and smiled, "That is so sweet, Henry. I love you so much." She leaned over for another kiss. 

Henry smiled at her after they kissed, "You need to open them, though!" he said excitedly and crossed his legs on the bed so he could watch her open each gift.

It had taken about thirty minutes to open up all the gifts. Henry explained when and where he got each individual gift, and Winter would nearly cry with happy tears as she opened each one. Henry was so happy to see the look on her face as she looked at everything. 

The eight gifts included: 

A pink bathrobe with a set of bath bombs, 

A set of twelve scented candles, 

A golden Pisces zodiac necklace, 

A light blue cashmere sweater, 

Cozy reading socks with a fifty-dollar gift card to her favourite bookstore, 

An oil diffuser with a pack of essential oils, 

A Fleetwood Mac vintage hoodie, 

A pair of rose pink silk pajamas from Victoria Secret. 

Winter's cheeks were turning pink and beginning to hurt from how happy she was. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty since she hadn't bought anything for him during the years that they weren't together; "Henry, I love everything! You didn't have to go to the trouble, though. I feel bad that I don't have anything for you." 

Henry looked at her and smiled; He put his face close to hers as he said, "You're all I've ever wanted. I can for sure say having you is the best gift there could ever be for me." 

Winter smiled, and wanted to cry, but she cried so much that night that she couldn't spare anymore tears. She put her hand to the back of his head and said, "You've always were so good at making my heart melt." 

They kissed softly on the lips. 

Henry packed up her gifts back into his duffel bag to make room on the bed for the both of them. "There's one more gift," he smiled. 

Winter's eyes went wide, "Another gift?! No, you're spoiling me, Henry!" 

Henry smirked as he went into the pocket of his duffel bag, "You deserve to be spoiled." 

Henry pulled out the dark blue ring box that Winter recognized right away. He opened the lid, and there was her engagement ring that she wore for many years until she placed it on his dresser the day she packed up and left. 

He looked into her eyes and asked, "You know I want to marry you more than anything. Will you wear it again?"

Winter could see the nervousness in his eyes as he held the ring to her. She nodded with a loving smile, "Of course I will." 

Henry smiled, looking relieved. He took the ring out of the box and slid it on her ring finger on her left hand. He smiled at her, "This is the happiest I've been in so long." 

Winter looked down to the ring she wore for so many years, and then looked back at him; "I don't need a traditional wedding, Henry. I'd be happy marrying you in a courthouse. I don't want a fancy party, I just want you."

"Okay, if that's what you want to do." he smiled, "Once we're done with everything we need to do here, I will call the Derry Courthouse and get it arranged." 

Winter wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his lips softly yet passionately. He ran his hands around her waist. 

Henry pulled away and gently put his hand on the side of her head. He said, "You asked me to do something earlier before we got distracted." 

_"Make love to me, Henry..."_

Winter smiled and teased, "Hmm... I wonder what that could have been..." She pulled off her tank top, exposing her breasts. 

He smiled and stared from her lips to her breasts repeatedly, "Hm, I wonder..."

Henry put his lips back onto Winter's and kissed her passionately. As she laid on the bed, she pulled him on top of her as they continued to kiss. 

Henry quickly took off his shirt and boxers as Winter slid off her panties. He gripped one of her breasts in his hand and gently squeezed as he kissed her and ran his other hand towards her clit, gently rubbing at it. Winter had her hands running all over his back and moved her hips up and down at the feeling of his hard cock rubbing between the lips of her wet pussy. 

Winter moaned lightly as Henry kissed and sucked her nipples. He lightly put two of his fingers into her pussy and rubbed at her clit with his thumb as he slid his fingers in and out, causing Winter to breathe heavier as he began to finger her faster. 

He grabbed onto his cock and slid it inside her vagina. The moment he felt himself going deeper into her velvety soft pussy, he breathed heavier in pleasure. 

They kissed more as he slid himself in and out of her, going at different paces. When he would go slower, he would look into her eyes and they could feel the passion in their stomachs of how much they loved and missed each other. As they passionately gazed into each others eyes and softly rubbed their noses together, Winter could see all the love Henry had for her in his eyes. Henry saw his future wife and mother of his children in her eyes. This was the love of his life and he intended to keep her protected at any costs.

At some points, they would flip over and Winter would go on top, bouncing up and down on his cock as Henry sat there, kissing at her neck and her breasts and holding onto her waist. Henry breathed deeply into the side of her neck as she rocked back and forth slowly; The both of them feeling every sensation as they took it slower. 

Henry took his hands and placed them to each side of her head and looked deeply into her eyes as she slowly rocked back and forth; "I love you, baby..." he whispered. The emotions and passion during their first time having sex in four years hit him emotionally as a tear appeared in his eyelid, "I love you so much." 

His words hit her emotionally in the gut and she could feel herself reaching another orgasm from the passion. She looked into his eyes, "I love you, too, baby." They kissed passionately, massaging each others tongues with their own. 

Henry flipped Winter back on her back and went on top of her. As he went faster, reaching his climax, his skin became slightly damp as sweat formed while he was about to hit his peak. He stared into her eyes, breathing heavily as he went faster and could feel his orgasm coming. 

Winter thrusted her hips with his and grabbed onto his lower back as he continued to get faster and faster. She moaned and arched her back so he could go in deeper. 

Henry continued to breath heavily. He grabbed onto the headboard with one of his hands and went in as deep as he could. He groaned as his cum exploded from the tip of his penis into Winter's pussy. Each time more cum would erupt out of him, he would press in deeper and groan. 

They were both catching their breath as they looked back into each others eyes. Henry ran his fingers lightly on her cheek. He didn't want to say anything, he just wanted to look deeply into her eyes and feel the love between the both of them. 

Winter continued to stare into his eyes, and Henry could see in her gaze that she needed to ask him something, but was having a hard time finding the courage.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, nearly a whisper. 

"All this talk about you knowing the future tonight, and how you know when you're actually supposed to die..." she started quietly, "I know you don't want me to know much, but can you please tell me how long the both of us have on this earth together?" 

Henry continued to stare into her eyes; He knew this question was going to come up sooner than later as the idea of losing him scared her; "We're going to have decades together... You're going to outlive me, but I can promise you that you'll be safe after I die." He whispered, "You have nothing to worry about. We're going to be together for a very, very, very, _**very**_ long time." 

Of course, Henry was speaking of natural causes of death. He didn't want to bring up that anything could happen when they went into the sewers. He was going to do everything in his power to be sure everyone, including him, came out alive. Now that he told her this, he needed to be sure nothing happened to him, as he had every intension of marrying her the moment they got out of the sewers and making sure he gave her a happy and long life with him. 

Winter stared deeply into his gaze as she whispered, "Promise me you'll look at me like this forever." 

Henry gently rubbed his nose against hers as he looked into her eyes and gave her tiny kisses on her lips. 

He whispered, "Until my very last day on earth."


	33. Part 33: Richie, Eddie, Bill & The Pot Brownies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Eddie sleepily walked into the living room with his pillows and blanket. He noticed Richie laying on one of the sofas as he watched one of the Annabelle movies.

_"I like your doll."_

Eddie greeted, "Hey!" 

"JESUS!" Richie jumped from the sofa after Eddie had spooked him. "You scared the shit out of me!" 

Eddie stared from Richie to the television, "Why would you be watching a horror movie when we're basically in one?" 

"I'm taking notes on how to kill this fucker!" Richie said. "Why are you up?" 

"I can hear Winter and Henry having sex through the walls..." he said sadly as he walked over to the other sofa and sat down on it. "Oh man, Richie... Did I ever fuck things up!" 

"It's true," Richie agreed. "You know if you just told Winter that you saw Henry for coffee when you did, the chances were a bit higher that she would have stayed with you since you were being honest."

Eddie stared at Richie with a sour look, "You really know how to make a man feel better..." he said sarcastically. 

Richie shrugged, "Bought brownies..." He held out a plate of brownies for Eddie to take one, "Sometimes they make all the problems go away."

Eddie looked sadly from the plate to Richie and took two, "Thanks, man." 

Richie stared surprised that Eddie took two. He didn't even think he would take one. 

Eddie took a big bite from the first one and then saw the surprised look on Richie's face, "What?" He quickly looked at the brownie because it had an unfamiliar flavour. He shrugged and continued to eat. 

"Nothing!" Richie said, still surprised. "Wanna play Magic the Gathering? I brought decks so we could play if we got the chance." 

"Yeah, sure!" Eddie said as he went on the floor and sat at the coffee table. 

Richie sat at the other side. 

Thirty minutes later, Richie had won two games of Magic against Eddie. Eddie was trying to remember how to play the card game, since it had been fourteen years since the last time him and Richie sat in the hallways of Derry High School and played. 

Eddie tapped his mana to the side, "I tap three mana, and unleash my flying creature 'Thunderclap Wyvern'. My other creatures I control get plus one!" he put down his card on the table and put dice on his creature cards. He sighed, "Do you think Winter's ever going to forgive me?" 

Richie looked up to him from his hand of cards, "Probably. She's always had a soft spot for you. The spot is so soft for you that she let you put your dick into it." He laughed at the last bit of what he said. "I'm so good at coming up with things to say." 

Eddie stared absent-mindedly at Richie's cards on the table; "Woah, man..." he rubbed his face with his hand, "Why are the cards vibrating with so many colours?" 

"Well, you ate, like, two pot brownies, man," Richie said.

Eddie looked at him with his eyes wide, "WHAT?! You never told me they had pot in them!!" 

Richie shifty-eyed him, "Uh, yes, I did, man!" 

"No! You said, 'bought brownies!'" 

"No! I said, 'pot brownies!'" Richie shook his head, "Were you already high when I gave them to you?"

"YES!" Eddie exclaimed, "I'm on pain killers for my cheek!" 

Richie began to laugh as he started to feel the high himself, "Oh, man... You're going to be flying. I might just have another brownie to catch up to you!" he took a brownie and started to eat it. "So, like, you don't need Winter anymore -- you have a vagina hole in your cheek!" 

Eddie began poking at the bandage on his cheek, "I don't even feel it at all."

"The way you're poking it, if the bandage weren't there, you'd be fingering your cheek hole." 

Eddie began to laugh hysterically, "I have a fucking hole in my cheek, and I don't even feel it!" 

Richie laughed more at Eddie laughing, "Dude, your teeth are so big!"

Eddie grabbed a hold of his two front teeth and tapped at them; "I can't feel my face at all, man." He looked at Richie with panic in his eyes; "Should I be worried?! How would I know if I'm alive or dead if I don't feel anything?!" 

"Chill, dude..." Richie snorted, "You're just paranoid." 

"Why do you have pot brownies anyway?" Eddie asked, looking around the room and noticing all the details on the walls and the ceiling. 

"It helps with my anxiety..." Richie looked around to see what Eddie was looking at, "Usually I take oil or smoke it, but I thought I would get brownies..." He snapped his face back to Eddie, "What the Hell are you looking at?!" 

Eddie looked at Richie, "Huh?" He looked down at all the Magic cards on the table in front of him and picked them all up. He flicked one at Richie's face, "LIGHTENING BOLT!" Then he grabbed another one and flicked it at him, "BOLT!" 

Richie was amused but tried not to express it on his face, "Very funny, Eddie. It turns out you're not such a prude after all." 

"LIGHTENING BOLT!" Eddie flicked another one and laughed. "BOLT!" another, "BOLT!" another, "BOLT!" another. 

"Eddie, I will shove these cards up your--" Richie looked over to the turtle, "Woah..." 

"What?! What woah?!" Eddie looked like crazy around the room. 

Richie got up and walked over to the aquarium, "The turtle is fucking glowing a white haze around it." He kneeled down to the tank and looked at the turtle amazed. 

Eddie got up from the floor and followed Richie. He leaned down in shock towards the turtle, "How come It's glowing? Am I glowing?" 

"Only with stupidity," Richie said, looking at the turtle. "Is that, like, the turtle's aura?" 

"Maybe it is a Godly turtle..." Eddie said, "Doesn't pot enhance consciousness and make you see things that only the third eye can see?" 

"Wow, that's some New Age blabbering you just did there, Eddie... But, maybe you're right..." 

Richie continued to stare at the glowing turtle for minutes on-end, letting time pass by him while the brownies continued to make him high. He felt so peaceful staring at the reptile.

The lights turned off in the living room, and Richie looked around.

Eddie was gone. 

"What the fuck?" He looked around, becoming paranoid; "Eddie? Where did you go?" 

There was a loud male scream from the kitchen. 

Richie got up to his feet, and with fear that something may have happened to Eddie, went running towards the kitchen where the lights were out as well. 

"Eddie?" Richie whispered, paranoid. 

There was only silence, and Richie was scared that the clown took Eddie. 

"I like your doll," whispered in the kitchen. 

Richie's heartbeat went up as he looked around for where the whisper came from. The movie that scared him earlier, Annabelle, flashed in his memory. 

A flashlight turned on and Eddie's face shun in the light as he screamed. 

Richie screamed. 

Then Eddie screamed again, frightened by Richie's scream, but then he started to laugh. 

"You're an asshole!" Richie said to him, "You call me an asshole all the time, but this proves that you're the asshole!" 

Eddie laughed hysterically as the flashlight still lit up his face. 

Richie began to laugh hysterically, as well. 

They both stopped laughing when they heard footsteps coming from upstairs. 

They both looked at each other with their eyes wide and walked over to the far side of the kitchen and kept the flashlight on themselves.

"I think someone's coming..." Richie whispered. 

As the thumping of footsteps became louder and closer, they looked seriously over towards the entrance of the kitchen. 

Bill appeared at the entrance and jump startled when he saw Richie and Eddie in the corner with their faces lit up by the flashlight Eddie was holding. 

Bill tried to catch his breath after being startled, "What the H-Hell are y-y-you guys doing?!" 

"Nothing..." They both said together in a monotoned voice, paranoid that Bill could tell that they were tripping out of their minds. 

Bill turned on the kitchen light and squinted his eyes at their very guilty and suspicious looking expressions. "W-Why w-w-were you guys so l-l-loud?" 

The both of them continued to stare at him, finding nothing to say to Bill that would sound normal. They both looked at each other quickly, snorted a laugh, and then looked back at Bill seriously. 

"Did you see the turtle?" Richie asked excitedly before walking quickly out of the kitchen to go back in the living room to see the turtle. 

Eddie walked over to Bill; "The turtle's lit..." Then he walked out to go look at the turtle again. 

Bill was left standing there, looking towards where the two walked away and questioned to himself what was going on with them. 

Eddie and Richie stood at the aquarium, looking at the turtle quietly. As they stared, they began to hear sounds coming from the aura of the turtle. It sounded like the cosmos in the universe passing by each other with a light sound that was peaceful. 

"Do you hear that?" Eddie asked Richie. 

"Yeah..." he said amazed. "I dare you to touch it." 

Although Richie was joking, Eddie put his hand in the tank and put his hand on the turtle's shell. His whole hand lit up with a white light and Eddie was able to see his soul coming out from his hand. He could feel the vibrations of the universe and of nature. 

Bill walked in quietly, and looked at them mesmerized by the turtle as Eddie had his hand on the shell. He couldn't see or hear what they were seeing and hearing, but they were in a state of amazement and peace. 

"W-What's going on w-w-with you g-guys?" Bill asked as he chewed his food. 

Surprised by Bill's sudden appearance, Eddie and Richie looked up at him. The first thing they noticed was that Bill was eating a brownie. 

Both Eddie's and Richie's mouths fell open from surprise, and then they started laughing hysterically. So hysterically that they were having trouble breathing from laughing so much. 

Eddie took his inhaler and inhaled his medicine. 

"You're eating my pot brownie, dude," Richie laughed. 

Bill's eyes went wide and he exclaimed, "Th-This is my third b-brownie!" 

Richie's and Eddie's eyes went wide again and they laughed. 

"Prepare to get mentally fucked up!" Richie exclaimed with his hands. 

After an hour of sitting in the living room and tripping out, Bill, Eddie and Richie were all talking and traveling in their own little worlds. 

Richie pulled his shirt on top of his head and put his hands in the air; "I am the Great Cornholio! I must have TP for my bunhole!" he quoted Beavis. 

"I think... I think I really could finger my cheek..." Eddie said to himself, touching his bandage. 

"Don't touch it, Eddie!" Bill laughed at him. "Holy shit... My stutter is completely gone. Am I not stuttering, guys?" he looked around at everyone. 

"No, it's totally gone." Richie said. 

"He thrusts his fist against the post and still insists he sees the ghost!" Bill waved his hand quickly in the air, and saw the ripple of his hand like when he was a kid and would wave a lit sparkler in the air and tried to write words in the sky. "Woah..." 

"Guys..." Eddie's voice sounded sad and serious, "Do you think Winter hates me?" 

Bill looked at Eddie and could see that he was remorseful and upset over everything that happened; "No, I don't think she hates you, Eddie. I don't think she could ever hate you. You guys will be fine."

"You just can't bang her anymore," Richie added in. "I don't know what you're going to do about your wife, though." 

"That's why I'm so confused about this future crossing into the present theory!" Eddie sighed, "Like, I have no idea what's going to happen after life is supposed to turn back to normal." 

"I have a great idea!" Richie said, "Bill, you and me will buy a house in Derry! It will belong to the three of us, and since Bill and me live in California, the house here will be like our vacation back home house. Eddie, if you want to divorce your wife, you can just live in the house permanently. You'll just have to deal with my drunk ass whenever I come by!" 

Bill looked at Richie, "That's a genius idea!" 

"I really like that, too," Eddie said. 

"What made you think of that idea, Richie?" Bill asked. 

Richie looked at Bill as he took a sip of his beer from the bar, "What idea?" 

"The house idea," Eddie said. 

"What house idea?" Richie asked, "Guys, I'm tripping balls! If I have any good ideas, tell me what they were in the morning!" 

All three of them were quiet for a few moments as the high was making them go into deep thoughts. Eddie was trying to figure out how this turtle theory affected his life, Richie was looking over to the turtle that was still glowing, and Bill was beginning to bang his hands like a drum on the coffee table. 

Bill began to sing, _"Show me the way to go home... I'm tired and I want to go to bed..."_ from Jaws. 

Eddie and Richie looked at Bill and followed him in his rhythm in banging on the table. All three of them began to sing loudly:

_"I had a little drink about an hour ago and it's gone right to my head..."_

They belched out the lyrics louder and banged on the table hard:

"ONE MORE TIME!" Richie yelled. 

"Hey, guys..." 

Bill, Eddie and Richie quickly looked over towards the staircase and saw Henry coming down sleepily. 

"Hi!" Richie.

"Hey!" Eddie.

"Hello!" Bill. 

All three of them tensed up as Henry looked at them as he passed by the door to the living room to go to the kitchen. He shook his head at the three men as he didn't know what came over them to act so odd. 

Richie, Bill and Eddie shifty-eyed to each other, nervous that Henry would find out that they were tripping balls. 

"Why are you still up, Henry?" Richie asked, making casual conversation. 

Henry yawned and answered from the kitchen, "Just thirsty! Came down for water!" 

"I bet you're thirsty from that magic carpet ride," Richie smirked. He sang, _"A whole new world... A new fantastic point of view..."_

Eddie threw a pillow at him to shut him up. 

Eddie whispered paranoid, "Do you think he knows?" 

Bill shook his head, "No way," he whispered. 

"Guys, Winter and Henry are the mom and dad of the group, remember?" Richie said quietly, "If he finds out we're high, he's going to send us to our rooms and ground us." 

Even though they were whispering, Henry could slightly hear them in the kitchen. He wondered why they were being so weird. 

When he saw the plate of brownies on the counter, he picked up one and sniffed it. He knew right away that they were high. When he put down the brownie back on the plate, he looked on the ground at all the Magic The Gathering cards. Henry hadn't played the game since he was a kid at the comic book store. He picked one of the cards up and looked at it. He grabbed his phone and turned on the camera.

"Do you think he banged Winter so hard that she's in a coma?" Richie whispered. 

"Shut up, Richie," Eddie whispered. "I don't want to hear about it." 

Henry came rushing out of the kitchen and walked past the living room to the front door, "Wow!" he said. 

Bill, Richie and Eddie all turned towards the hallway and wanted to know what Henry had seen. 

"What is it?" Bill asked. 

"I can't believe it!" Henry exclaimed as he opened the door and went outside and went out to the road. He stopped and looked up to the sky. 

Bill, Richie and Eddie followed him curiously. 

"I'm too high for this," Eddie said to himself as he followed the other two to the road. 

They all stared up into the slightly cloudy night sky. 

"What is it, Henry?" Bill asked. 

Henry answered as he kept his eyes on the sky, "It's a Thunderclap Wyvern. It's a flying creature. I didn't think they ever came to Maine." 

Richie and Eddie blinked at the name. 

"I think I've heard of it before," Eddie said. 

"I have, too!" Richie said. 

"Winter's going to flip once she hears that we saw one! They're close to the size of dragons," Henry said, still looking at the sky, "There it is!" He pointed up to the clouds, "Did you see it?!" 

They all looked up and squinted their eyes, trying to see the big bird. 

"Yeah! Yeah, I see it!" Richie exclaimed. 

Henry looked at him confused, "Really?" Then he went back to looking up to the sky and repeated excitedly, "Really?!" 

"I don't see it!" Bill said.

Henry looked at the three of them looking into the sky, "You know how most birds communicate through sounds -- through their chirping and songs? Well..." He quickly looked at the Magic card in his hand for the name again, "Thunderclap Wyvern's communicate through the vibrations in movement and sound. There's things you can do to make them come closer." 

"So it can eat our balls?" Richie asked. 

"What do we do?" Eddie asked, wanting to see it. 

"Okay..." Henry backed away from them a little bit and put on the camera on his phone, "I'm going to get you guys to do the movements and sounds so I can record the bird coming closer." Henry tried not to laugh as he told them, "You all have to spin around three times very quickly, then clap your hands and sing in a high-pitch voice. I suggest maybe a Michael Jackson song or someone who can hit those high notes, and then - the most important part - you have to walk five steps backwards and then do the Carlton Dance from The Fresh Prince." 

"What?!" Bill asked, perplexed at the instructions. 

"OH, MY GOD!" Henry pointed to the sky, "It's right in that cloud!" 

They all looked up again. 

"This routine has proven to work according to Google! When I tell you to start, spin three times, clap your hands and sing in a high-pitch voice, walk backwards five steps, then do the Carlton Dance. You'll have to keep repeating it until it comes in view." Henry turned on his camera. 

"Okay, I'm ready! I wanna see this thing!" Bill said. 

"Okay, guys... GO!" he turned on record and pointed his camera at the three stoned men. 

Trying to do everything at the same time, they spun around three times. They looked at the sky and clapped their hands repeatedly. They sang to different songs in a high-pitch voice. Then they walked backwards five steps. Then, as 90's kids, they all knew how to do The Carlton Dance and did it together. 

"It's still not out of the cloud, guys! Do it again but faster!" Henry instructed as he tried to keep in from laughing. "Can you hold this for me, Richie?" He handed Richie the Magic card which Richie took but didn't look at it. 

They repeated the routine again, this time going faster. 

"One more time, guys! Just faster!" Henry said. 

One last time, they did the routine. 

"I'm getting dizzy..." Eddie said as he tried to stand in one spot. 

They looked to where Henry was standing, but he was gone. They looked towards the hotel and saw him walking to the front door. 

"What the--" Richie began, and then looked at what Henry gave him. He sarcastically laughed as he read the Thunderclap Wyvern's Magic card, "Henry tricked us!" 

Henry heard Richie and threw up his hand in the air as a wave. He quickly turned to them and shouted, "Don't go to bed too late! I may need some of you in the morning!" Then he went inside to go back up to Winter in bed. 

Bill and Eddie rubbed at their foreheads as they continued to feel dizzy. 

"Dad got us, guys!" Richie laughed sarcastically; "Oh, Dad! What a trickster!" 

Henry laughed lightly as he went back into the bedroom where Winter was awake when she noticed that Henry had gotten out of bed. 

"What's so funny?" she smiled as he laughed. 

He climbed back into bed, "Babe, you're going to laugh so hard when I show you this." 


	34. Part 34: Punches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's less than 10 parts left in this, and then I will be starting a new Henry Bowers fanfic.  
> Please comment/subscribe/kudos :) 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
"Did you want some coffee?" Mike asked as he poured himself a cup after he turned off the burners from cooking eggs and bacon. 

It was five in the morning; Henry and Mike needed to figure out how to safely stop Arnie from the mission Pennywise had given him -- To kill the Losers. 

"Yeah, thanks," Henry said with his pencil resting behind his ear as he looked on Mike's laptop at images of underneath a 1958 Plymouth Fury vehicle at the gas line. He didn't think he would need to cut it, but if he did, he wanted to be sure he knew exactly where it was. 

"Should I ask those three if they want coffee?" Mike asked. He was referring to Richie, Eddie and Bill who had passed out in the living room. 

Henry shook his head, "Those guys had a wild night last night. I'll wake them up if I need them." 

"So, what's your plan, boss?" Mike went over to the notes Henry was taking. 

"I need to find Arnie on a quiet street. I'm thinking Side Road 14; Where I followed him down the other night. That's usually a pretty deserted street." Henry thought of his plan some more before he continued, "I'll need to find a way to get him to stop driving - like a distraction - and then I plan to slash the tires. Whatever else I'll need to do, I'll have to think of it in the moment." 

"You can't do this by yourself..." 

Henry sighed, "You need to stay on the phone with me. I'm going to need someone to be a distraction, someone to help me with the slashing, and someone who knows how to drive defensively." 

Mike and Henry looked at each other as the name popped into their heads at the same time when it came to someone who knew how to defensively drive. 

"Shit. I'm going to need Eddie." Henry sighed annoyed and ran his hand to the top of his head. He still wasn't over Eddie lying to him. "Anyway, I'm going to take Winter some breakfast, wake up Eddie and whoever else I need, head to my place, and then we will begin this--"

"Suicide mission?" Mike raised his eyebrow. 

Henry rolled his eyes, "Something like that." 

Henry brought up a tray of breakfast with eggs, bacon, toast and coffee up to Winter. When he opened the door, he found her fast asleep on the bed and a little smile grew on his face. 

He gently sat beside her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Wake up, beautiful," he whispered. 

Winter slowly opened her eyes and blinked the sleep from her eyes. She looked up to Henry sitting beside her, and for the first time in a long time, she was excited to wake up. 

She sat up in the bed and smiled at him, "Good morning, handsome." She took in a big inhale of the freshly cooked food, "Thank you so much! That smells delicious." 

Henry placed the tray on her lap and sighed happily. He kissed her on the lips and gazed into her eyes before placing another kiss on her lips. 

"There's stuff I need to do this morning," he said. 

Winter took a bite from her toast and looked at him, "It's nothing dangerous, is it?" 

Henry took a moment; "I'm just going to talk to Arnie. He's not after me, so I'm the only one who can try to talk him out of all of this." 

He didn't want to mention that there was a lot more to trying to get Arnie to talk to him. He needed to stop Belch, Vic and Ace, but he didn't know how to tell Winter without her becoming worried. This mission was going to be a lot more dangerous than he was letting her believe. 

Winter looked him up and down, nervous of the mission he was going on; "Can I come?" 

Henry shook his head, "No. I need to keep you safe. Besides, I won't be by myself. I'm going to take three other people and I will stay on the phone with Mike the entire time."

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. She sighed defeated, "I can't wait until this is all over and we can get on with a normal life." 

Henry weakly smiled, "That's why I have to do this..." he rubbed her smooth soft leg up and down with his hand. "I'll be careful, though." 

Winter weakly smiled back, and nodded. 

"No rush in eating breakfast this morning. We won't be going out to the sewers until I'm back."

"You know..." Winter smiled softly, "When we were teenagers, you were the one who didn't want to go into the sewers, but now you're like the leader." 

Henry let out a small chuckle and rubbed the top of his head, "Yeah, I guess so." He looked at her, "I didn't realize back then that yours and my future depended on killing the clown and getting rid of It. I know now that for us to have a normal life, we need to do this. You know I want us to have a normal life more than anything."

Winter nodded, "I know, baby. I want that, too." 

Henry put his hand on her cheek and kissed her lips, "Eat up and just relax for a while, okay?" 

Winter smiled and nodded. "Be careful. I love you." 

Henry went back downstairs after spending some time with Winter. He had no time to waste and needed to get this done before the end of the morning. 

He went into the living room where Richie and Eddie were sleeping on separate sofas and Bill was slouched over in a chair. Henry went over to Eddie who was snoring and looked uncomfortable in his sleep. He kneeled down in front of his face. 

"Eddie?" he said quietly, nudging at his arm to wake him up. He wasn't budging; "Eddie?" 

Henry looked at the bandage on his cheek. Without thinking more into it, and since he was still upset with him, he slapped the wound gently, but enough to inflict some pain to make Eddie wake up. 

Eddie winched, "OW!" he put his hand to his cheek. 

"Sorry, there was a spider on the bandage... I got it, though," Henry said. Eddie looked at Henry, wondering why he was waking him up; "Did you ever have to take a course in defensive driving before you became a driver?" 

Groggily, Eddie sat up on the sofa and grabbed his painkillers on the table; "Yeah... Why?" 

"I'm going to need you then." Henry quickly grabbed the painkillers from Eddie's hand and looked straight at the warning label: **_'Do not take if planning to drive.'_**

"What the--" 

"You can't take one until after we're done." Henry tossed the pill bottle in Eddie's hands and got up. 

"After we're done what?" Eddie asked annoyed. 

Henry looked at Richie and Bill who were fast asleep and snoring. He figured that the three of them was all he needed to stop Arnie. He went over to Bill, hit his shoulder lightly until his eyes fluttered open. Then he did the same to Richie. 

"I need all three of you in the kitchen. There's coffee." 

As Henry walked back into the hallway to meet Mike in the kitchen, the three men in the living room looked at each other tiredly and confused. 

They all groaned and sleepily walked into the kitchen. 

Henry and Mike looked at the three of the tired looking men who entered and sat at the kitchen table. 

"There's a price when you spend the night getting high," Henry said, lightly smiling to himself. 

Richie looked at the clock, "It's not even six yet. The sun is just rising." 

"Can we get some coffee?" Eddie asked.

"W-What d-do you need us for?" Bill asked, "D-Dammit... My st-stutter's back."

Mike got them all a cup of coffee the way they all like it. 

As Henry, Mike, Bill, Eddie and Richie sat at the kitchen table, Henry explained his plan to stop Arnie, Vic, Belch and Ace. He explained to them that he needed to get Arnie from Arnie's car to his truck with the help from Bill, that Richie needed to be a distraction, and Eddie's job was to drive the truck. They all thought the plan sounded pretty easy, until Henry explained that once they get Arnie from the car into the back of the truck, Vic will most likely take over the wheel in the car, and that's why they needed Eddie as a defensive driver. 

"Here's my issues..." Eddie began, "I took a defensive driving course... That doesn't mean I know how to drive like I'm in The Fast and The Furious. And two, Henry, you can still barely look at me. I know you're still pissed off at me." 

"I am." Henry answered truthfully. 

"What will make you forgive me?" he asked. 

Henry tried to think but just shook his head, "Just do this plan with me, and it will settle things between us." 

"How about you let Henry punch you in the face?" Richie suggested. 

Henry rolled his eyes, "I'm not punching him in the face." 

"No!" Eddie said, "I want you to punch me. You wanted to punch me last night - just do it." 

Henry sighed, "I'm not going to punch you..."

Within ten minutes, Eddie, Richie, Bill, Mike and Henry were standing outside in the driveway. Ben and Bev arrived after Richie knocked on their doors to tell them that there was going to be a fight outside between Eddie and Henry, although it was only just going to be a punch in the face to settle their problems. 

Everyone had circled around Eddie and Henry. 

"Are you guys fucking serious?" Bev asked as she joined the circle in her housecoat. 

"Don't try to stop it, Bev!" Richie said. 

This was starting to look like a fight in school where all the kids would meet on the playground to watch. 

"Punch on the side where my cheek isn't wounded," Eddie requested. 

Henry nodded, "Okay. Fine." 

"And don't hit my nose. Just hit the eye. I've seen you give guys bloody noses," said Eddie. 

Henry rolled his eyes, "There's too many rules, man!" He put down his fists, "I can't punch you with all your rules." 

"This turned lame really fast," Richie said. 

"Where's Winter?" Ben asked. 

"She's still in bed," Henry answered. 

"Oh yeah..." Eddie began, "Winter could stay in bed for hours." 

Henry side-glared at Eddie to what he said. Without much thought, he curled up his fist and threw it towards Eddie's right eye. Henry ended up punching him in exactly the guidelines that Eddie requested. 

"OW! FUCK!" Eddie put his fingers to his closed eye as the rest of the group went over to make sure he was okay. "I'm fine... I'm fine..." He looked up at Henry, "We good now?" 

Henry smirked happily as he waved his loosened up fist in the air to shake away the pain from the hit, "Yeah... Just don't lie to me ever again." 

"Or sleep with Winter..." Richie added. Eddie and Henry both looked at him annoyed. "I just wanted that to be clear, too..." 

"Okay..." Mike began, "Now that all that is settled; Ben and Bev, you guys stay here until Winter is up and ready and then meet us over at Henry's house. As of right now, Eddie, Bill, Richie, Henry and me will be heading to Henry's place to get everyone set up and to get the truck prepared." 

"What's going on?" Ben asked. 

"You know that car chase in Terminator Two?" Richie asked, "We're getting ourselves into some crazy shit!" 


	35. Part 35: Die Hard with Speed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss my devoted story commenters! I hope you are all enjoying this story still lol!!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
"You're such a fucker, Belch!" Vic laughed at Belch.

Belch responded by roaring out a huge burp. 

"You guys are disgusting animals," Ace said seriously as he threw his smoke butt from the passenger-side window. "Arnie, we need to kill them today." 

"I'm on it..." Arnie responded as he drove down Side Road 14, staring onto the road in his psychotic state, blood splattered all over his face and front. 

Earlier that morning when Arnie was leaving his home, he had an altercation with his strict mother and father. They had not approved of Arnie's new car and attitude that came along with the 1958 Red Plymouth Fury. When they tried to keep him from leaving the house so he could finish up his studying for finals, rage came over him with the voice of Pennywise in his head telling him that today was the day he had to kill the losers. He ended up taking the pocket knife that Vic had given him and stuck the blade through his father's stomach in front of his mother. Witnessing the traumatic event of watching her husband dying in the hands of their only son, she was too frozen to move or do anything. Arnie ended up killing her by slicing her throat. 

"Arnie, all the people you've killed this week and the scare you started in Derry was what Henry failed to do in 1997..." Ace said to Arnie. 

"That Winter girl turned him into a love-sick pussy," Vic added. 

His eyes still bulging out as he stared at the road, Arnie said in a monotoned voice, "He chose the girl to drive him away from his purpose. When I met this girl," -- the car -- "she led me to my purpose. That's what real love is; Not distracting someone off their life path, but steering them towards the right direction." 

Ace smiled and nodded, "Alright," he said impressed. "Mr. Gray picked the right kid to give the balloon to." 

"Fuck! There's a cop up-a-head!" Belch groaned annoyed. 

The cop wearing the beige-colored uniform and hat held out his hand, indicating for the car to stop. 

It was seven-thirty in the morning. No construction started yet and the road was quiet during this time of day. The four in the Plymouth Fury figured there was another kid's body found on the side of the road that the cop was cleaning up -- Bob Gray's breakfast. 

"Stop the car, Arnie. We can't be suspicious," Ace directed. 

Arnie stopped the car as the police man continued to hold his hand out. The cop gave them a thumbs up and indicated for them to stay there. He began talking on a walkie talkie. They couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was talking into it about a cleanup on the side of the road. 

"If he comes near us and sees you covered in blood, we'll have to smoke him," Ace said, "For now, be cool until he tells us to go." 

"FUCKING PIGS!" Belch yelled out the window in the backseat. 

The police man looked towards the car disapprovingly, and then continued on speaking into his walkie-talkie. 

Ace turned to Vic, "Are you fucking kidding me?! What part of don't be suspicious didn't you understand?!" 

"Since when did the police still wear the beige uniforms from the '90's?" Vic asked. 

"What do you mean?" asked Arnie. 

"They don't wear those colours anymore, man," Vic said. 

The realization hit Ace as he stared at the police officer, still holding his hand out so the boys didn't start driving through. Although the cop was talking on the walkie-talkie, there was no voice coming out of the device. Ace continued to stare at the uniform and squinted his eyes at the name tag on his chest. 

The name appeared to him, and it read: 

**Chief Jim Hopper**

"Drive, Arnie!" Ace directed, "It's not a fucking police officer! FUCKING SMOKE HIM!" 

_Spppsssssss..._

_Spppppsssssss..._

Arnie tried to drive, but the tires were sinking the car to the ground. The tires were slashed. 

"WHAT THE FUCK, GUYS?!" Arnie shouted angrily. 

The driver-side car swung open and Arnie was faced with Henry Bowers leaning in to unbuckle Arnie's seatbelt. 

"Get the fuck out of the car, Arnie!" Henry said to him as he grabbed his body and locked his arms into place by grabbing him in a full-body grip from behind to pull the teen from the car. 

"WHAT THE FUCK, HENRY?! WHAT THE FUCK!" Arnie shouted as he struggled to get out of Henry's grip. 

"YOU'RE GONNA DIE, HENRY!" Ace yelled from the passenger-seat. "Vic, get behind the wheel!" 

Vic, in the backseat, began to climb to the front. 

Henry kicked the door shut as he had Arnie fully out of the vehicle and squirming in his arms. 

Bill came and grabbed onto Arnie's legs tightly as Eddie came rushing to their side in Henry's pick-up truck. 

"LET ME GO!!" Arnie screamed. 

Eddie ran out of the truck and opened the end of the back trunk so Bill and Henry could throw Arnie in. It took a few tries to try and get Arnie to get into the trunk, but they were eventually able to get his squirming body in there. 

Henry tied down the tonneau to the trunk with some ropes so Arnie couldn't escape. 

"Henry..." Bill tapped on Henry's shoulder as he tightened the last rope. 

"What is it?!" Henry asked. 

Bill pointed towards the 1958 Red Plymouth Fury's wheels that had begun to build back up with air and heal the slash marks in the rubber on its own. 

"FUCK! GET BACK IN THE TRUCK!" he shouted at Eddie and Bill. Henry looked over towards Richie, in the police uniform, as he stood on the street watching them; "RICHIE, RUN! FUCKING RUN!" 

Richie took a moment to get his legs to start moving at the sudden plea and eagerness coming from Henry's voice to run. He saw the Plymouth Fury begin to burn rubber and he saw the familiar face of teenage Vic driving behind the wheel. 

Richie ran as fast as he could through the forest at the side of the road. The car was burning rubber behind him through the trees and bushes, but all the obstacles in the forest made the ghosts of the teen boys slow down the car as they chased him.

"We got him, Mike! Now we need to go find Richie!" Henry said to Mike, who was on speaker phone. 

"What happened to Richie?!" Mike asked from Henry's house, pacing back and forth on his driveway. 

Eddie hit the wheel as he drove over eighty miles per hour to meet up with Richie on the other side of the forest; "Why the fuck did Richie just stand there?! He should have fucking ran to the truck while you guys were loading the kid into the back!" 

"ONCE I'M OUT OF HERE, I'M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU!" Arnie screamed from the trunk. 

"HOLD ON TIGHT, ARNIE! THIS IS GOING TO BE A BUMPY RIDE!" Henry yelled back. 

"E-Eddie, turn ri-right!" Bill pointed for him to make the sharp right-hand turn. "R-Richie will be c-c-coming from o-out of there!" 

"Fuck!" Eddie exclaimed as he felt all the pressure from behind the wheel to keep everyone alive, "He better be fucking smart enough to come from the other side of the forest!" 

He made the sharp right, causing all three of them to hold on tight to the handles on the ceiling. 

"Drive slow, man!" Henry directed as he looked out the window towards the forest from the backseat. "We can't miss him! Where are you, man?!" he said tensely as his eyes scanned the trees for Richie. 

"T-There's the f-f-fucking car!" Bill pointed to the red vehicle breaking through the branches on the trees in the distance. 

Eddie stopped the truck, and all three of them desperately were looking for Richie. 

"Don't tell me the car fucking hit him and he's laying somewhere in the forest!" Eddie said stressed out. 

Not being at the scene and only able to hear them talking was causing Mike a lot of stress. As he waited to hear word on Richie, he saw Bev, Ben and Winter approaching the house. All three of them were looking stressed out over this mission that Henry made up, as well. 

"What's the status right now, Mike?" Ben asked. 

Mike was sweating as he said, "They got Arnie in the trunk, but they don't know where Richie is." 

"Oh, my God!" Bev exclaimed as she ran her hands through her hair. 

Winter crutched down on the sidewalk and began to stress as they all waited to hear that they found Richie. 

Bill, Eddie and Henry continued to stare out their windows and watched the car driving closer through the forest as they looked around for any signs of Richie. This particularly was stressing out Henry as it was his plan, and anyones deaths were going to be in his hands if his plan was a failure. 

"Come on, man... Come on..." Henry kept saying quickly over and over again as he bit at the tip of his thumb and watched through the window. 

All three of them jumped when their friend dressed in Henry's deceased Uncle Jim's police uniform began pounding his hand on the back window, wanting in. 

"LET ME IN! LET ME IN!" he pleaded as he banged on the window. There was fear, sweat and some blood on his face caused from scratches from branches as he ran for his life through the forest.

Henry quickly opened the door and pulled Richie into the truck before the Plymouth was out of the forest. 

"HE'S IN! DRIVE!" Henry shouted towards Eddie. 

Winter, Mike, Bev and Ben all sighed in relief to the news. 

"Okay, good!" Mike said over the phone, "Now get your asses back here!" 

Eddie pushed his foot down on the gas pedal and was driving down the road on Side Road 14 as the Plymouth Fury was out of the forest and speeding down the street behind them at one-hundred miles per hour. 

Henry and Richie watched from the backseat at the Plymouth moving forward towards them. 

"They're gaining up on us, Eddie! Floor it!" Henry said. 

Eddie did as he was told and floored the gas pedal. 

"T-This road is a circle. J-Just keep leading them in a-a-a circle until we f-f-figure out what to do..." Bill said as he looked from the front window to the back. Bill looked at Richie, "A-Are you okay, Richie?" 

Richie continued to catch his breath as he answered, "Just nearly got ran over about twenty times, smacked myself into about fifty trees, tripped over branches and rocks, and nearly had a fucking heart-attack while having three teenage ghosts laughing out of their windows and yelling at me, 'DEATH TO THE TRASHMOUTH!', but I'm great, Bill. Thanks for asking," he said sarcastically. 

"Fuck, guys!" Eddie began as he drove at the fastest he ever driven before while keeping his eyes on the murder vehicle behind them; "How the fuck are we going to lose them?! How the fuck do we destroy an undestroyable car?!" 

Winter trembled as she listened to them over the phone. She didn't know how they could beat the car that was chasing behind them. 

"You guys need to do something!" Mike said to them over the speaker phone. 

"Better easier said than done, Doc!" Richie said to Mike. 

Henry sighed, "I'm gong to have to..." he paused as he ran his hand on top of his head as he began to sweat in fear. He looked from the back window to the men in his truck, "I'm going to have to cut the fuel line." 

"WHAT?!" Bill, Eddie, Richie, Mike, Ben, Winter and Bev all exclaimed together. 

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the only way!" Henry began as he spoke to everyone, "I'll get underneath the Plymouth with the knife and I'll cut the fuel line. I'll get myself out of there, and Eddie, when I'm out of there, you will have to floor the gas so you can get away, and try to guide them towards the big builder of rocks at the other side of the road. Once they hit it, the tank will explode."

"NO!" all of them said. 

"Henry, that's crazy!" Winter said into the phone. 

Henry sighed knowing how much stress she was under, "It's the only way to get out of this right now, Winter." 

"Henry, I know we called you Keenu Reeves after saving us from the sewers in high school, but you're not fucking Keenu Reeves, dude!" Richie exclaimed. 

"Do you have a better idea?!" Henry said to him. 

They all remained quiet as they took in Henry's new plan. No one agreed to it, but they didn't have any other ideas how to stop the car. 

Winter's eyes began to tear up in stress as her hands began to tremble. 

Henry spoke up, "Mike, we're going to have to get off the phone with you so I can talk to Eddie on my bluetooth while I'm underneath the car. I'll call your cell phone, Eddie, and you'll need to keep me on speaker so I can tell you when to speed up." 

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" Arnie yelled. 

"SHUT UP!" Richie, Bill, Eddie and Henry yelled back. 

Everyone fell silent again. 

Henry stretched his arm out to the front of his truck to grab his wireless Bluetooth to stick to his ear. "We're going to have to hang up on you, Mike..." Henry paused, and then said, "I love you, Winter." 

Winter began to tremble more on the driveway. The way his voice expressed his love to her nearly sounded like Henry even knew he might not be able to make it out alive. 

"I love you, too, Henry. Please be careful," she pleaded, tears slowly falling from her eyes. 

Mike took a moment before he pressed the button to end the call. All they could do was wait with no idea what to expect. 

Mike, Winter, Bev and Ben sat on Henry's porch. They prayed and shook in fear as they hoped for the best to happen. Bev sat beside Winter with her arm around her to support her. 

Henry put all his thoughts and fears aside, and said, "I have this board I use to get under my truck to work on it. I'll tie it to my back so it's secured..." he grabbed the board and the extra rope. 

Richie sighed as he helped Henry tie the board on him tight. "This is fucking insane..." Richie mumbled as he secured all the ropes. 

Henry looked at Richie, Eddie and Bill as he spoke, "Do as I say while I'm under there, okay?" He paused for a moment before he said, "Thank you all for helping me. If I don't make it out, keep Winter safe." 

"Eddie will be there to help her through her grief," Richie joked in a sad tone. 

Henry looked at him, and Eddie glared at Richie through his mirror as Bill rolled his eyes. 

"Scratch that; I'll be fine," Henry said quickly. 

"Seriously, though..." Richie began, "Be careful and don't get yourself killed." He held out his hand to shake Henry's just incase it was the last time he would see Henry alive. 

Henry nodded and shook his hand. 

"H-Henry, you ca-can do this," Bill turned around and grabbed Henry's hand in a handshake. 

"No one knows cars like you do, Henry. You got this," Eddie held out his hand as he kept his eyes on the road while he drove. 

Henry shook his hand. 

"Eddie, open the sun-roof," Henry directed him.

Eddie pressed the button that opened up the window on the roof. 

Henry quickly pressed his Bluetooth into his ear and Bill called him from Eddie's cell phone and put him on speaker. Henry took the knives that him and Bill used to slash the cars tires when they grabbed Arnie from the car.

"Sl-Slow down so he can j-jump from here to th-the car easily," Bill said to Eddie.

Eddie began to slow down from over one-hundred miles per hour to eighty miles per hour, trying to get Vic, Ace and Belch to ride his ass.

"Why are they slowing down?" Vic asked Ace and Belch.

"Let's see..." Ace said angrily, "Keep up with them. They're all dead men." 

Henry blew out some air and continued to keep his fears aside. He hoisted his body up through the sun-roof and tried to regain his balance as the wind hit him. He didn't realize how much the air-pressure would make it hard to move when the truck was moving at this speed. 

"What the fuck is he doing?!" Belch asked when they saw Henry coming from the sun-roof. 

"He's coming to join our party..." Ace smirked. 

Henry sat at the top of his truck and held on as he turned on his Bluetooth. 

"Can you guys hear me?" he asked. 

"Yeah, we can hear you," Eddie responded. 

"Okay..." Henry said.

Henry began to slide down the rear window slowly with the control of his legs and hands. He stood on the back of his truck where Arnie was underneath the truck tonneau. As he stood on the tonneau, he kept his eyes on Vic and Ace. Belch was in the back, but Ace and Vic were staring Henry down. 

"Slow down a bit more, Eddie. I need to jump over," Henry directed. 

"For fuck sakes!" Richie exclaimed, getting anxiety as he listened to Henry and watched him through the rear window. 

Eddie slowed down to fifty miles per hour, and so did Vic and Ace. 

"Bump the back of the truck," Ace directed Vic. 

Vic quickly pressed the gas and rammed the front of the Plymouth into the back of the truck.

Henry fell onto the tonneau and nearly fell off the truck. 

Bill, Eddie and Richie jolted forward in their seats. 

"Are you okay, Henry?!" Richie asked. 

Henry grabbed onto the ropes him and Bill tied on the tonneau so Arnie wouldn't try to escape, and he held on tight to regain his balance. 

"Yeah, I'm fine..." he said nervously as he regained his strength from the shake-up. 

As quickly as he could, Henry regained his balance and stood on the tonneau with his hands still gripping the ropes. He looked at the front hood of the Plymouth, took in a deep breath, and jumped onto the hood. 

"HE MADE IT! HE FUCKING MADE IT!" Richie yelled to the guys as he watched. 

"HOLY SHIT!" Vic shouted as Henry pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed the hood to keep him secured to the car with the blade deep in the engine. 

"Holy fuck... Bowers has balls..." Ace said impressed. "What's this fucker planning to do?" 

Henry stared into Ace's eyes as he held onto the handle of the knife. He stared at him with all the hatred inside of him for ruining his life and relationship with Winter. Henry smirked at him as he grabbed the other knife he had and stabbed it into the metal, slowly stabbing the blades down towards the very front of the vehicle until his legs were dangling off. 

"Is he going to kill himself?" Belch asked as they watched Henry making his way down the front of the hood. 

"He tried it once, I wouldn't put it past him to try it again..." Ace said watching Henry interested. 

As Henry kept his weight and grip on the knifes that were keeping him attached to the car as he stabbed down the metal, he slowly put his legs underneath the vehicle. He slowly straightened his torso and back so he could grab the road with the speed with the Plymouth as the wheels on the board attached to his back adjusted to the cars speed. 

"I'm underneath, Eddie. Keep the speed you're going at until I tell you to speed up, and you'll have to seriously floor it when I tell you to. Let me know when you're near the big rocks," Henry directed as he continued to stab the knives underneath the car to keep himself secured. 

Bill, Eddie and Richie sighed of relief when he made it underneath safely. 

"Got it, Henry. Be careful," Eddie said. 

"Where the fuck did he go?!" Vic asked. "Did we run him over?!" 

Ace and Belch looked behind them suspiciously, looking for Henry's body to be rolling on the road. 

Ace jumped when the blade of a knife went through the floor and nearly cut his foot. 

"He's underneath the fucking car!" Ace exclaimed. 

"WHAT?!" Vic shouted. 

Ace grabbed the wheel and turned it sharply to the left and then to the right, trying to get Henry to fall off and get hit by the wheels. 

"FUCK!" Henry exclaimed as he held on as tight as he could as they swerved the car. 

"They're fucking swerving, guys!" Richie exclaimed, "They know he's underneath!" 

"H-Hang on t-tight, Henry!" Bill exclaimed fearfully. 

Henry looked over to his side and saw the wheel just inches from his face. The wheel would easily tare off his skin if he touched it. He clenched his body as hard as he could as he held on, trying not to let himself get thrown off. 

He could see the sparks from the wheels on his board firing up from the friction on the road.

Henry knew they weren't going to stop swerving until they saw him on the side of the road. He quickly took his knife and began cutting at the fuel line, trying to keep the line away from his body so he didn't get soaked in gasoline. 

"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?! IS HE STILL UNDERNEATH!?" Belch shouted. 

"DO YOU SEE HIM BEHIND US, STUPID?!" Ace shouted at him. 

"Henry, the rocks are just up a head!" Eddie said. 

Henry began to cut as hard as he could, and once the line had separated in the middle and the gasoline started to pour out, he said into his Bluetooth; "Richie, take something from my backseat and throw it at their windshield so they go after you guys again!" 

Richie quickly looked around. He found a thermos. He stood up and put his upper-body out of the sun-roof and threw it hard at their windshield, cracking it in half. 

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Vic screamed, "NO ONE TRIES TO FUCK WITH MY CAR!" 

Henry quickly began piercing the knife blades through the bottom of the car until his legs were out from the back. 

"EDDIE! FLOOR THE GAS!" Henry yelled into the bluetooth as the pressure from the car beginning to move faster was making it harder for him to grip on. 

Eddie floored on the gas.

"GET THOSE FUCKERS!" Belch yelled. 

Before Vic floored on his gas pedal, Henry let go of the knife keeping him secured to the bottom of the car. The wheels on the board were sparking as he rolled to the side of the road. He ended up being thrown into the forest with a lot of impact when the tiny wheels rolled over some rocks. 

"He made it out!!" Richie exclaimed happily. 

"You c-can't let them know that y-you're going to turn, Eddie! Make the t-t-turn really sharp so they go straight into the rocks!" Bill instructed as he held on tight. 

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Eddie said over and over as he drove as fast as he ever driven before. 

"HOLD ON TIGHT, KID!" Richie exclaimed to Arnie who was still making noises in the trunk. 

Vic followed right behind the truck as fast as he could. 

"Do you smell that?" Ace asked Vic, smelling the gasoline leaking from the bottom of the car. 

"TURN! NOW!" Bill shouted. 

Eddie made the sharp right-hand turn. 

The three ghosts were distracted as they realized the car was leaking with gas. 

"BOWERS FUCKING CUT THE FUEL LINE!" Ace yelled. 

Vic looked over at Ace and lost track of watching the road at the thought of what Henry did to his car. 

"WATCH THE FUCKING ROAD!" Belch yelled. 

Vic quickly darted his eyes and saw the huge rocks up in front of him. The vehicle crashed into the solid rocks and caught on fire right away. 

Eddie continued to drive down the road as Bill and Richie watched the car break out in flames. Within seconds, the tank exploded in a huge explosion and the car filled up with flames. 

Winter, Mike, Bev and Ben rose up to their feet when they saw the big explosion of flames far out, miles and miles in the distance light up the sky. The explosion had been so loud that they could feel the rumble underneath their feet. 

All of them began to worry more after hearing and seeing the sight. Winter began to shake, fearing the worst had happened. Bev continued to hold her as they waited for the guys to call them or drive back. 

"I'm going to call nine-one-one..." Mike said sadly as he dialled the number on his phone.

"WOOOAAAH!! WE FUCKING DID IT!" Richie exclaimed. 

"Henry?!" Bill called to the phone, "HENRY, DO YOU HEAR US?!"

There was no answer. 

"Oh, fuck!" Eddie said, "I'll loop around!" 

"HENRY?!" Richie yelled to the speaker. "Fuck, guys! He better not be dead! I won't be able to look at Winter if we have to tell her that he died saving us!" 

Eddie floored the gas around the side road, trying to find where Henry had been thrown off when he let go of the Plymouth. 

"There's his board he had tied to his back!" Eddie pointed to the destroyed board on the road. 

He stopped the truck there, and all three of them got out. 

They looked around the area for any signs, noises or the sight of Henry laying somewhere. 

"F-Found the Bluetooth..." Bill said as he picked up the device that was in Henry's ear. 

"Well, that's the reason why he wasn't responding to us," Richie commented, looking around the area. "HENRY?!" he called through the trees that led into the forest. 

"HENRY?!" Bill and Eddie yelled. 

In the distance they could see the blazes of fire from the Plymouth Fury and waited to hear the sirens from the fire department whenever they were going to arrive. The smell of the fire and the flames were so noticeable that anyone miles away would be able to see it. They even figured that the rest of the group were seeing it from Henry's house. 

"Here are the knives he was using..." Richie said as he kicked the steele blades. "Fuck, guys... Where is he?" 

Bill looked down at one of the blades on the road and noticed there was blood on the steele. "H-He's hurt..." 

"Of course he's fucking hurt! Did you not see how the car was dragging him while it swerved, or how he flew out like a rocket when he told us to floor it?!" Richie exclaimed, "No you guys didn't see that stuff, 'cause I was the one who was watching!" 

They all began to become worried and fell silent. 

After a few seconds, they heard the leafs in the forest rustling. 

"Do you hear that?" Eddie asked quietly. 

They all turned to where the noise was coming from. 

Henry walked out from the trees with a limp. He had blood covering half of his face and one side of his shirt was all torn from the gravel on the road. They could see that the one side of his body was all scrapped up from the friction on the road taring through his skin. 

Henry looked over to the three men who were looking at him in disbelief and their mouths fallen open in shock. 

"Oh, good..." Henry said in a raspy voice, "You guys are alive." 

"Are you fucking okay, man?!" Eddie asked as all three of them went up to him. 

"You're fucking alive!" Richie exclaimed.

"H-Holy fucking sh-shit!" Bill smiled. 

Henry coughed, and said, "My one side's fucking messed up and my eyebrow is split open, but I feel fine." Henry looked over to the blaze of flames up ahead, "Wow! You guys fucking did it!" 

Bill, Eddie and Richie continued to look at each other in disbelief at Henry standing in front of them like a wounded solider that acted like he was a machine to the pain. 

All three of them shouted out in excitement at Henry, and jumped around him with adrenalin. 

"YOU'RE FUCKING ALIVE, MAN!" Eddie exclaimed.

"YOU'RE NOT ONLY FUCKING ALIVE, BUT YOU'RE KEENU FUCKING REEVES, DUDE!" Richie laughed. 

"A-AND BRUCE WILLIS! F-FUCKING JOHN MCCLANE F-FROM DIE HARD STANDING R-RIGHT HERE!" Bill laughed. 

Henry laughed lightly at their excitement and praise. "Let's go so everyone knows we're alive."

As Eddie, Bill and Richie talked over each other about how cool Henry and that whole experience was, Henry hit the tonneau on the back of his truck, and said, "Are you okay, Arnie?"

"Fuck you!" he responded.

"Good!" 


	36. Part 36: Lose Our Minds & Let Our Fears Float

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Mike, Bev and Ben sat on the steps to Henry's front door. All anyone could do was just wait. 

Winter sat down on the lawn at Henry's house. She had her eyes concentrating on a dandelion poking its head out in the morning dew on the grass. Her mind was focused on Henry, Eddie, Bill and Richie. She hoped they were okay. She couldn't cope with the idea of losing Henry again, but this time to death actually taking him away from her. Losing Eddie would devastate her, too, especially after the four months they had together with their ups and downs. 

_"Off to the sewers we go to lose our minds and let our fears float,"_ quietly sang a group walking by the house. 

Winter looked up towards the streets and watched as the old lady from her dreams, Georgie, Lily, and herself at seventeen years old walked up the street. 

_"Off to the sewers we go to lose our minds and let our fears float,_ " they sang over and over again. 

Winter didn't feel any fear as she watched them; They were always with her in her dreams. However, she had never seen herself as a seventeen year old before. She always appeared as herself, in her own point of view, as she was trapped in the sewers in her dreams. 

Seventeen year old Winter looked over to thirty-two year old Winter sitting on the lawn. They stared into each others eyes as her younger self continued to follow the group up the street. Staring into her own seventeen year old eyes made her wonder if apart of her never actually left the sewers that day she was found by Officer Jim Hopper in 1997; Maybe apart of her soul was still down there and that's why she always went back down in the sewers when she was dreaming. It would explain why she could go through episodes where she could feel nothing but emptiness inside of herself. Maybe her soul disappeared back into the darkness of the sewers and didn't know how to get out. Still, she wondered, who was that old lady that was always there to guide her?

Winter looked over to Mike, Bev and Ben to see if they saw the four travellers singing as they walked up the street. They didn't see them. 

The four of them was only mean't for Winter's eyes. 

Winter looked back towards the four of them as they continued to walk up the street. Seventeen year old Winter was still staring at her, like she wanted her present self to help her; To free her from her shekel and chain that kept herself in the darkness. 

"They're here!" Ben announced as he got up to his feet, followed by Bev and Mike. 

Winter looked over towards the pick-up truck that was now covered in dents pull into the driveway. She immediately felt relief when she saw all of them through the truck windows. 

She stood up and went over towards the backdoor where she saw Henry looking out. She was so relieved to see that he was okay and alive. She was shaking with all the fear she had during the time he was out with the guys. 

Bev went over towards Bill while Ben and Mike went to check up on Eddie and Richie. 

Henry opened the back door and carefully jumped out. 

Winter looked at his split-open eyebrow that caused blood to run all down one side of his face and his completely tattered and bruised side.

"Oh, my God!" she said in shock at all the blood. 

Henry stared at her; "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." 

She hesitantly went to put her arms around his shoulders in a hug, "Are you okay? I'm so scared that I could hurt you if I touch you..." 

"You could never hurt me," he pulled her in by the waist into a tight hug. 

Winter hugged him back, closing her eyes as she felt the love for her soulmate; Her twin-flame. She inhaled his scent of sweat and some gasoline, but underneath all that, she could still smell Henry. 

She looked to his face, and said, "Henry, if you ever get underneath a moving car again, the car won't be the one that kills you - I will be the one that kills you when you get home."

Henry bursted out laughing. 

Winter smiled as she held up her shaking hand that had been shaking for the past hour they were gone on this crazy mission; "You see what you do to me?"

Henry smiled, "Is that you trying not to kill me right now?" 

"It could be," she joked. She went in for another hug; "I'm just so glad you're okay."

Henry smiled as he hugged her back; "Every time I wrap my arms around you, it's like coming home to where I belong."

Winter kissed him lightly on the lips, not caring that some of the blood dripping slowly down his eyebrow was splattered on his lips. 

Eddie and Bill passed by Henry and Winter. She quickly glanced at them to make sure they were okay, and she noticed Eddie's black eye right away. 

Winter looked at Henry, and he responded; "He told me to do it." 

Winter squinted her eyes in surprise and looked back over to Eddie who over-heard. He looked at her, and said, "I told him to do it." 

"ENRICO! CHOP CHOP! We don't have all day to flirt!" Richie yelled over to Henry from the back of his trunk. He looked at Eddie who had just arrived to the trunk. Wanting to make him feel uncomfortable, he said; "On second thought... My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in." 

Eddie watched Richie wiggle his eyebrows at him, unamused, "Please don't ever say anything like that again... Not just to me, but to anyone." 

Richie twisted his face and tried to think up another line; "I just shit in my pants... Can I get in yours?" he slowly asked, questionably.

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows at him, "That's disgusting! Why do they all have to do with shit and diarrhea?! Does that really get you sex?!" 

"Hold up, Spaghettiman..." Richie put up his hand for him to stop talking and pretended to look offended, "It's only been a little over twenty-four hours since we've gotten reacquainted. I'm not really ready enough to tell you about all my past sex partners, okay? Just slow down a little bit. You're freaking me out." 

Eddie blinked at him, and then looked away as he mumbled to himself, "I actually wasn't interested in that at all, you fart-knocker. You're the one who fucking asked me the other night if my wife's pussy feels like I'm pounding my dick in a mountain of hot pizza dough." 

Richie faced the trunk and laughed under his breath as he listened to Eddie going off in a rant behind him. "Just classic..." he said to himself as he continued to chuckle. 

Henry showed up with Bill by his side. Henry had taken a moment to change into a new shirt from his truck that wasn't covered in blood. 

Henry went to the back of his truck and looked at The Losers and Winter, "Keep your distance from him, okay? It's you guys he wants dead, not me..." 

Henry took in a deep inhale and exhale to prepare himself. He quickly untied the ropes and then quickly pulled down the back of the truck. He grabbed onto Arnie's legs right away and slid him down the truck so he could have a full grip behind him to lock down his arms and hold him down tight. 

Arnie tried to wiggle and pull out of Henry's arms, but even though the kid was lean and skinny like Henry was, Henry was much stronger than him. 

Bill, Eddie, Richie, Ben and Mike stayed close incase Arnie got out of Henry's grip. Arnie had bruises on his forehead and a small cut on his cheek from the ride in the trunk, but his eyes still looked like he was in a psychotic rage.

"YOU DESTROYED MY FUCKING CAR, YOU SHITTERS! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF SHITTERS! LET ME GO, HENRY!" Arnie yelled as he tried to wiggle out. 

"Stop fighting me!" Henry said sternly into his ear. He was sweating with the amount of strength it took to keep Arnie from escaping him.

Arnie stopped trying to fight out of Henry's grip and looked at the seven people in front of him. He laughed at them evilly. "You brought me to them... You're making my job too easy, Bowers." 

"Jesus Christ..." Eddie whispered seeing the look in the teens eyes. He took an inhale from his inhaler. 

Arnie made eye-contact with Winter. Her mind went blank as she stared into his psychotic eyes and her scars on her stomach burned. There was no way she could see Henry ever turning into a psychotic man like that even with the help of Ace's jacket. 

"What do you think you're going to do with me, Henry?!" Arnie asked loudly. "Even if I don't kill them, I've already killed a bunch of people! You can't help me!" 

"Everyone you killed was with that car! The car is destroyed! It's Derry; It will all blow over the cops heads once we get you back to normal, and there will be no evidence to convict you!" he tried to assure him. 

Arnie was able to quickly pull out Vic's pocket knife and switched the blade out. He sliced the blade down Henry's forearm. 

"GET THE KNIFE, GUYS!" Henry winced as he yelled to whoever was close enough. 

Bill went over and began hitting Arnie's wrist hard enough that the knife fell out of his grip. Bill grabbed the knife and handed it to Henry who placed it in his back pocket quickly. 

"You see what you did?! Now I'm going to bleed all over you!" Henry said sternly to him. 

"You're not my fucking dad, Henry!" 

"No, I'm not! But I fucking wish I was your dad!" Henry said to him, "I would have made sure that I wouldn't have done whatever the fuck they did to you to hate them so much and to make you so angry! I would have also helped you buy a new car instead of that fucking possessed piece of shit that made you this way!" 

Arnie smiled more and turned his head to look at Henry. His voice changed into a psychotic man's voice as he wore a grin that nearly looked like Pennywise's; "I killed my parents today, Henry... With my bare hands... Trust me... You don't want to be my dad..."

"Oh, fuck this!" Richie said, going over to the sidewalk to throw up. The kid's eyes were enough to scare him. Arnie Cunningham was Ace Merrill 2.0; He couldn't even place Henry in the category that Ace and Arnie were in. 

Henry stared into Arnie's sinister eyes. He couldn't believe what he was saying. Could he ever bring back the real Arnie he's known for years or was he fully lost in Pennywise's grip? He tried to think how he could ever possibly help Arnie get away from the cops when he is back to normal if he killed his parents with his own hands.

Henry ignored what Arnie said and looked at Richie, "Do you have my uncles cuffs?" 

Richie looked at him, "Yeah, I do. I'm not going near him, though." He handed the cuffs to the person closest to him, which was Mike. 

Mike went over to Arnie.

"NO!" Arnie began to try to wiggle his way out of Henry's arms again. "I'M NOT FUCKING DOING THIS! HE SAYS YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE WHETHER I KILL YOU OR NOT!" 

Henry took his arms and swung them back towards his butt. 

Mike cuffed him. 

"We're going to take him up to my old bedroom," Henry said to Mike who began helping Henry bring Arnie inside of his house. 

When they got Arnie into the house, Mike grabbed Arnie by the legs as Henry continued to have his grip from behind him to get him upstairs. Bill, Ben, Eddie and Richie followed behind them to make sure Arnie wasn't going to hurt Henry or Mike while they were securing him in Henry's childhood room. 

Bev and Winter entered the house last. 

"This is fucking insane," Bev said. "Henry was nothing like that kid when he was after us in high school. Just looking into those eyes makes me feel really scared." 

Winter looked at her, "I wouldn't know... I never saw that side of Henry whenever he came to see me while I was recovering." 

Bev shook her head, "We were scared of him, but we could tell that he didn't want to do what Pennywise was making him do. He was trying to fight the impulses the jacket was giving him. Like, he tried hurting some of us, but that was it. It was like Henry was an episode of Goosebumps and that Arnie kid is like a Rob Zombie movie. They were entirely different. Thankfully Henry had you to make him not change into whatever that kid is changing into." 

Winter sighed, "I hope Henry can help him. I honestly think he's far from helping, though... But I don't think Henry will be able to accept that... He actually really cares about him like he's his own kid." 

Winter could feel her gut wrenching telling her that something bad was going to happen. 


	37. Part 37: The Upside-Down Pyramid of The Losers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Losers! I hope everyone is staying safe! Here's another part just to help add a smile to your day during this crazy time in life. 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter walked into the living room of Henry's house. It was nearly as she remembered it back when she would visit Henry and his family in high school. Henry had definitely turned the house into his own by doing renovations and moving things around. 

The one thing that mainly caught her eye was how he had many of her things that she left behind in Pittsburgh around the house; Her sofa blanket, paintings she had bought, the little collectables from movies she use to buy, even her jackets she left behind were hanging in the closet, as well as other things she noticed that belonged to her. She was even surprised to see a porcelain doll she owned as a child sitting in the corner of the room; Henry use to hate that doll. 

She figured these things would have been donated to Good Will, or Henry would have just got rid of them, but he kept them with the belief that she would be with him again one day. 

It made her feel like she never left him, and that they had been living together in this house for years. 

Winter walked into the kitchen and softly smiled as the sunlight lit up the room. She remembered how much she use to love this kitchen, and how her and Henry would do their homework on the kitchen table as his mom would make dinner. 

_Ruth looked over to the two teenagers; She had noticed that Winter was taking notes from her textbook, but her son wasn't looking at his schoolwork at all - he was admiring Winter's face as she studied._

_She smiled over at her son who obviously had a crush on Winter, "Henry, are you concentrating?"_

_"Yeah!" Henry announced, snapping out of his gaze. "What part are you on?"_

_Winter smiled at him, "The Black Spot Incident of '62."_

_"Oh, right!" he grinned ear-to-ear at her, "Me too."_

_Ruth rolled her eyes with a smile._

Winter passed by Bev, who was standing at the counter, to go look at the photos Henry had on his fridge; There were pictures of his family, as well as pictures of him and her. She was lost for words as she looked at the moments in the past caught on camera. It all made her stomach fill up with butterflies, but it also broke her heart wondering how much his heartache really ate at him all these years. 

"Henry sure does have a lot of phonebooks," Bev pointed out as she flipped through the thick books on the kitchen table, "Looks like there's one from every state." 

Winter went over to the books and flipped through the bookmarked pages of Denver, Colorado; All the Callaghan's were crossed out as well as veterinarian clinics. 

"Wow..." Winter said quietly, "He really never stopped looking." 

"This is years of work..." Bev observed. She looked at Winter, "He must be the happiest he's been in years having you back in his life." 

Although Henry was pre-occupied with protecting Arnie and killing Pennywise, she knew Bev was right. She really couldn't wait for all this to be over with so her and Henry could begin their life again. 

The doorbell rang. 

Winter and Bev looked at each other. They both couldn't think of who could have been at the door. 

"Henry's in no state to answer the door right now..." Winter said regarding how he was covered in cuts and blood, "I'll go get it." 

Winter walked down the hall towards the front door as Bev waited at the entrance of the kitchen. She could see the silhouette of a man standing outside on the porch. 

She opened the door. 

It was Henry's brother, Robert. 

Robert's expression was of surprise when Winter opened the door, and he looked at her for the first time in four years. His eyes went wide as he skimmed her up and down in surprise. 

"Woah..." was all he could say. 

Hearing footsteps upstairs, as Henry was making his way out of the room to see who was at the front door, Winter stepped out and shut the door behind her so Robert couldn't see Henry's condition. 

"Hi, Robert," she smiled at him. 

"Winter, it's been" -- he was lost for words -- "How have you been?" 

They quickly embraced in a hug. 

"I've been pretty good. It's really good to see you," she smiled. 

He stared at her, still in shock, "So, did Henry... How did he... I'm really floored that you answered the door - I can't even form sentences," he laughed. 

Winter giggled, "Henry found me on Facebook. We've been back together since last night..." she smiled as she held up her hand, "He even put the ring back on my finger. We're going to the courthouse to get married any day now." 

"Holy crap!" he smiled as he placed his hand on his forehead in shock, "I can't believe this!" He felt proud for his younger brother who spent four years in a depression trying to find her; "You know, Winter, he worked really hard to get where he is today; The sobriety, moving here, taking over dad's business... It wasn't easy for him, but he always believed he would find you. At times I even thought it was crazy the lengths he was going trying to find you, but he obviously proved me very wrong!" he smiled. 

Winter smiled at his words, and nodded, "We're really happy. Thank you for being there for him while I wasn't." 

He smiled at her, pausing as he continued to stare at her in shock; "Is he home? We were supposed to meet for coffee today so we could talk about his business -- the legal side of it -- and he never showed up. I tried calling him, but I guess maybe his phone's dead." 

"Oh! He was supposed to meet you today? I'm sorry, it's probably my fault that he forgot. The both of us have just been trying to play catch-up." 

"It's fine... I can imagine that Henry is feeling on top of the world right now having you back in his life. It probably made him forget about coffee with me," he chuckled. 

Winter giggled, "Most likely. Um... But he's not home right now. He's getting bandages at the store. He cut his eyebrow while he was doing some work on the house, so he just went to grab some supplies to take care of that --" it wasn't entirely a lie -- "I could get him to call you when he charges his phone if you would like?" 

Robert softly smiled and shook his head. "Tell him there's no hurry to call me. He just needed to go over his yearly contract." He handed her the paperwork, "Could you get him to sign it and scan it to me?" 

Winter nodded, "Yeah, of course!" She took the papers and looked at him, "I hope it wasn't much trouble driving from Pittsburgh." 

"It's fine! I'm going to drop in to say hi to mom and Sally anyways, and knowing Henry is probably ecstatic right now makes it all worth it." He inhaled deeply and smiled at her; "It was great seeing you, Winter. I'll see you again very soon! All three of us, and Sally, should go out for coffee!" 

"Definitely!" she gave him a quick hug before they said bye. 

Winter went back into the house and walked down the hall to the kitchen. She noticed Henry standing at the counter with Bev, Ben and Richie. With all the sweet words Robert told her about Henry, and the way Henry had been holding onto her by keeping her items in his home, she couldn't help but smile at him. 

"I forgot about coffee with Robert, didn't I?" Henry asked. 

Winter nodded, "Yep! He wants you to read through these papers and scan them to him when you can..." She smiled, "I think I put him in a state of shock when it was me that opened the door and not you." 

Henry chuckled as he admired her. 

"Winter..." Richie began, "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all feel very blessed that each one of us has some of Henry's holy blood on us now, but can you please stitch up that nasty eyebrow?" He turned to Henry, "I think you're awesome, but your blood is just on everybody."

"SHUT UP, YOU SHITTERS!" Arnie screamed from upstairs at Eddie, Mike and Bill who were up there with him. 

Winter, Bev, Ben and Richie looked up towards the ceiling. When Henry was about to get up to check on him, Richie and Ben got up first. 

"We got this kid, Henry," Ben said, "Get yourself cleaned up." 

"No worries, Henry! We got this lil punk!" Richie stated. "Just please stop bleeding everywhere!" 

Bev sat at the kitchen table, looking through a magazine. She didn't want to go upstairs to see Arnie. Seeing him made her feel ill. 

Winter grabbed her medical supplies which she had brought with her to Henry's house. 

Henry sat on a chair by the counter. 

"Don't give me any painkillers," Henry said. 

"Seriously?" Winter asked surprised, "Stitches hurt, babe..."

Henry shook his head, "I'm not going into the sewers with any painkillers in my body. I need to be completely alert to get us out alive." 

Winter weakly smiled at him, "If you say so." 

Bev turned to him, and joked, "You're like the Henry Bowers who saved us in the sewers in 1997 on steroids!" 

Winter and Henry both laughed lightly. 

Henry shrugged, "A man's got to do what he has to do to save his family..." He looked at Winter as he answered to Bev, "She's my only motivation to keep fighting and getting this all done and over with. She's my family." 

Bev sighed, "I wish more men thought like that." 

Winter wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed the side of his head. She whispered into his ear, "I can't wait to marry you." 

Henry smiled at her words and could feel his body warming up with love and happiness. As she wiped the blood off of his face, he asked excitedly, "So what did Robert say when he saw you? I wish I could have seen his face!" 

Meanwhile, Bill, Mike, Ben, Eddie and Richie were upstairs in Henry's childhood bedroom with Arnie. They had handcuffed him to the metal railing of Henry's old bunk bed that him and Robert use to sleep in when they were teens. 

Arnie continued to stare at all of them as they talked to him. Richie was having the most fun as he felt like he was on a cop show, and he was playing the bad cop. 

"Listen, you little shit..." Richie began after Arnie said his Netflix Special sucked. He was sitting on the floor across from Arnie.

Bill rolled his eyes, "R-Richie, st-stop egging him on!" 

Richie blinked with an idea; "Maybe we should give him a pot brownie... It would calm him the fuck down!" He looked at Arnie, "D'you want some pot, kid? I got a nice batch of weed with your name on it!" 

Eddie threw his arms in the air, "We're not giving a seventeen year old pot! I'm not pushing drugs onto a minor!" 

Richie rolled his eyes at Eddie, "You really care about how we look after we fucking blew up a car and left the crime scene, know about a murder and haven't reported it --" Arnie killing his parents -- "protecting a psychotic serial killer, and we can also add kidnapping to that list, too. What harm would a little pot do, asshole?" 

"Oh, fuck..." Eddie took an inhale of his medicine, "We're fucking criminals. We're going to prison." 

"Don't worry, Eddie..." Richie began, "You can bunk with me! You can be my bitch." 

Mike began, "We're not giving him pot. Who knows what it would do to him in his state." 

Richie shrugged, "It would probably chill him the fuck out. We'll order him a pizza and bring the TV in here while we're gone. When we come back, he'll be burnt out and passed out. Bada-bing, bada-boom!" 

"No, Richie," Mike said. 

Arnie stared over at Eddie. 

Eddie saw him staring at him, as if he were studying his soul. Feeling uncomfortable, Eddie asked, "What?" 

"How did you get the black eye?" Arnie asked nonchalantly. 

Richie answered, "Henry did it! Eddie put his mouth where it didn't belong and Henry beat the shit out of him!" 

Eddie rolled his eyes. 

"He also put some other things of his where it didn't belong..." Richie chuckled, referring to Eddie's penis in Winter's vagina. 

"Can you stop, Richie?!" Eddie snapped, "I am a fucking heartbroken man, and all you can do is make jokes!"

Richie shook his head at Eddie as he looked into Arnie's eyes; "He's having a man-period. Don't listen to him." 

Eddie threw up his hands and walked to the back of the room. 

Arnie smirked at their bickering. 

"But, yeah..." Richie started, "Henry beat the shit out of him earlier today! That's what happens when you get onto Henry's bad side. You think you're cool that you started this Cunningham Gang bullshit? Well, kid, we're The Bowers Gang! The Bowers Gang can run circles around your little pussy street gang." 

Arnie continued to stare at him, not showing any emotion or interest on his face.

"What!? You don't believe me?!" Richie asked, pretending to be shocked. He turned towards Ben, Bill, Mike and Eddie; "This little shit doesn't believe me, guys!" Richie stood up and nodded to Arnie, "Okay, okay... You need proof, huh?!" Richie lifted up his shirt and showed Arnie the burn from the cigarette lighter Henry scarred on him when he was fifteen from the Plymouth Fury; "You see that?! Henry gave me that birth mark on my ribcage! You know why he did that?! All because I made a little joke... He fucking burned me!" 

Arnie exhaled annoyed as he looked around the room at the others. They all nodded at Arnie to Richie's story. 

"It's tr-true, man!" Bill nodded. 

"Every word!" Mike agreed, "It's Henry you need to listen to, not the clown." 

"What?! You need more proof that Henry's just as psychotic as anyone else?!" Richie turned to Ben, "Show him, Ben!" 

Ben walked over to the seventeen year old on the floor and lifted his shirt to show him the scar of Henry's name carved into his stomach. "Henry did this to me! I'll have his name on me for the rest of my life!" 

Richie motioned to Ben's stomach and repeated as he looked at Arnie, "For the rest of his life, dude! For the rest of his fucking life!"

Henry walked into the bedroom with a can of Pepsi for Arnie. He looked at Ben and Richie who both had their shirts up, showing Arnie the scars he put on them when he was a teenager. 

"What are you guys doing?" 

Winter showed up behind Henry to see what was happening inside the room. Right away, she saw Arnie look over at her and stare at her with his eyes mesmorized on her. She could feel the scar on her stomach begin to burn and fear took over. 

Ben and Richie put down their shirts and looked at Henry. 

"Just showing the kid that he's not as badass as he thinks he is," Ben said. 

Henry raised his eyebrows then shook his head. He looked over at Arnie who was still staring at Winter. He noticed him staring at her, and he felt uncomfortable with her being in the same room as him. 

Henry looked at everyone; "Can I get a few minutes alone to talk to him?" 

"Of course, boss!" Richie nodded, trying to give the impression to Arnie that Henry called the shots. "Your face looks much better!" he smiled at Henry as he walked out of the room. With Mike, Bill, Ben, Eddie and Winter close behind him, he said, "I still say we give him a pot brownie." 

Henry shut the door behind them and sat on the floor across from Arnie. 

"I brought you a Pepsi," Henry said, cracking open the top and putting the can next to him.

Arnie didn't say anything; He just continued to stare at Henry. 

"I know you're pissed off at me," Henry said. 

"I don't know if I'm more pissed off at you for destroying my car, or for leaving me alone in this room with those goofs."

Henry let out a tiny laugh under his breath; "Yeah, they kind of are goofs." 

Arnie took a sip of the cold Pepsi as he kept his eyes on Henry.

Henry paused as he thought about what he was going to say to Arnie; "Listen, man... I get what's happened to you. Bob Gray wanted me to kill them, too. You're going to stay in here while we go kill him. He's playing you as a pawn in his games, and you're as much of a victim in this as anyone else he has used or killed. Just so you know, once this is all over, I'm going to help you get back on your feet, okay? You'll still have a job at the shop, and I'll help you figure out where you're going to live."

Arnie smirked at him, "This is the first time I've ever felt alive, Henry. There's no better feeling than knowing I can take the lives of the people who fucked me over and not give a shit about it. Yeah, he wants me to do the things he wants me to do, but I feel great that I eliminated the shitters in my life, too."

Henry sighed, "I know you're still in there, man. You gotta be still in there." 

Arnie stared at him, smirking; "The Arnie you're talking about -- the pussy side of me -- is gone. I need to do what Bob Gray wants me to do." 

"What does he want you to do? What's his plan? To kill Bill, Bev, Ben, Eddie, Richie and Mike?" 

"That's the second part of the plan." 

Henry looked at him questionably, "What do you mean the second part of the plan? What's the first part?" 

Arnie stared into Henry's concerned eyes, as he said, "The plan that he has for me is to kill Winter. Once she's dead, you won't be able to continue trying to save the rest of them. You're only saving them because you have a need to protect her. When she's gone, the foundation of you protecting all of them is gone. Once she's dead, everyone dies." 

Henry remained calm, but he could feel his heart beating out of his chest and his body becoming hot and sweaty with fear. He stared into Arnie's eyes, and he knew he was telling him the truth. 

The Losers, Winter and Henry was like an upside-down pyramid; Winter was at the bottom as the foundation point, Henry was right above her, in-between her and The Losers. With Winter gone, he would break, and The Losers would crash to the bottom. Winter was Henry's reason to fight for everyone's safety. 

Feeling sick to his stomach with fear of losing the love of his life, he said calmly, but seriously, "Arnie, I'll do everything I can to help you get back to normal... But I need you to listen carefully and to understand what I'm about to tell you..." he looked him dead in the eyes, and said very seriously, "If you lay one finger on Winter, I will kill you."


	38. Part 38: Heart-To-Heart Before The Kill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a side-note: I hear all your voices, and I stand up with everyone for the basic rights of humanity. I am here for all of you, and I applaud you for standing up and being a change maker <3  
> Is everyone okay? I know most of my readers are from the States, so I just want to check in to make sure you all are doing okay during these riots and the pandemic. Here is a new part to put a little smile on your faces :) 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter walked into the master bedroom of the Bowers house; Henry's room. 

She had peaked in once when she was a teenager when Henry's parents owned the room. The room didn't look much different, but it was full of Henry's stuff and some of his clothes scattered on a chair by the window. 

The sun had brightened up the room and it felt cozy. 

Winter walked over towards Henry's dresser and looked at a photo of the two of them in the forest in Pittsburgh. When she looked at the other side of the room, she saw her dresser that she left in Pittsburgh when she left. 

"Wow..." she said to herself when she walked over. All the stuff she had left on her dresser was sitting on top; Her jewelry box, pictures taped to the mirror, her empty money box, and a lot of her movie collections. 

She opened the drawer and found her old clothes neatly folded inside. 

"Do you think it's weird that I kept all of these things?" asked Henry as he entered the room quietly, smiling as her presence made him want to smile whenever he saw her. 

Winter turned around and softly smiled at him, "Not weird... I'm taken back that all my stuff is here. I can't believe you paid the extra moving cost just to move my stuff here." 

He walked up to her and put his hand on her back. Smiling at her, he said, "Some people thought it was crazy, like my family. I wasn't ready to give up, though." 

Winter softly smiled as she turned to look at him, "I wasn't ready to give up either." She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer to him, gazing into his eyes. 

Henry wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his hands on her back as he lightly scratched on the fabric of her tank top; "I would probably be in my seventies and still keep all your stuff hoping you would come back to me one day." 

Winter smiled at his words. She rubbed her nose against his and placed her lips softly on his. They kissed for a few seconds, enjoying the peaceful moment between them before they had to go and risk their lives in the sewers. They both hoped this moment could last as long as possible. 

When they separated, they looked into each other's eyes with their faces so close that their noses were touching. Winter stroked the back of Henry's head with her hands as he looked peacefully and lovingly into her eyes. Every time Henry smiled at her, stared into her eyes, laughed or said something sweet, Winter could see the spark of Henry's teenage-self in his eyes; The boy she fell in love with when they were only sixteen. 

"These past couple of days..." Winter began, "I've seen your uncles and dad coming out in your personality. Like, whenever you talk with Bev, Bill, Eddie, Mike, Richie and Ben, I can see Will and Jim coming through you. When you talk to Arnie, I can see your dad and Jim coming through you... But whenever you talk to me, all I see is the person I fell in love with when I was sixteen. It's like I get the real version of Henry all to myself; The guy who would rather spend the night reading, cuddling and just hogging me to himself instead of having to socialize with other people." 

Henry let out a small laugh under his breath as he looked deeply into her eyes. He didn't want to let this moment go; He wished everything that they had to do would just disappear and they could just live in peace like they were in that very moment. 

"When I'm at work, I have to be this boss guy... I think my employees like me, but I do give off that boss vibe around the shop. But when I get home, I get to put my walls down. Only you get the real Henry to yourself." he smiled at her before kissing her lips. "It's reassuring to hear you say that my uncles and dad live through my personality, though."

Winter softly smiled at him, "I'm glad I get all of you. I finally feel like myself again, like every bad emotion I've been dealing with for the past four years has just disappeared. I can finally be my truest self again." 

Henry placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her again. 

He placed his forehead on hers, and asked, "When this is all over, did you want to move in here with me? Maybe you can see if you can get transferred to Derry General? If you don't want to live in Derry, I can sell the house - I don't mind at all."

"Coming back here and seeing your house makes me want to live here with you. It brings back so many amazing memories..." she paused before she said, "That's if we officially kill Pennywise. I don't think it's safe to stay in Derry if we're not sure if It's dead or not." 

Henry nodded, "I'm not leaving the sewers until It's dead." 

Winter softly smiled, "In that case, I will need to give my landlords a few weeks notice, and then I will move in here with you." She smiled more as she said, "There won't be much to move since all my stuff is here anyway." 

Henry smiled, "I'll visit you and stay with you until you're moved in here. Even if I stay with you every night, I don't mind taking the two hours there and back here to get to work. As long as I get to see you as much as possible, I'm happy." He paused before he added, "I might get to finally see who your famous landlords are." 

Winter let out a giggle and nodded, "You might." She went over to her dresser; "Are there sweaters in here?" 

"Bottom drawer," he responded. 

Winter pulled out a black sweater and put it over her pink tank-top. She knew the sewers were going to be cold. She remembered how icicles were in her hair after spending three days in the sewer when she was seventeen. 

Winter's attention turned to her engagement ring on her finger. She rubbed at it gently as she considered if it would be better to leave it behind. 

"You okay?" he asked. 

Winter nodded, "I'm just wondering if I should leave my ring here so I don't damage it in the sewers." Apart of her wanted to keep it on, though, incase she would die in the sewers. If she was going to die, she would want to keep it on her forever as a symbol of their love. 

Henry stared into her eyes, worry and concern flooding up his mind as he remembered what Arnie told him just a few minutes ago. 

Winter noticed that concern in his eyes, "Is everything okay?" 

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something..." 

Winter could sense the worry in his voice and expression, "Okay... What is it?" 

"Um..." he put his hand behind his neck and rubbed at it, trying to figure out how he was going to say what he was planning to say. Winter stepped back and watched him, waiting. "I'm going to drive you back to your place in Castle Rock before the rest of us go in the sewers..." 

"...No." 

He continued on, "...I will come back for you when we're done." 

"...No, Henry," she shook her head.

Winter could tell in Henry's eyes that he wasn't going to let this go. 

"Winter!" Henry rubbed at his forehead, trying to figure out how to convince her, "This is not like the last time when Pennywise didn't know you and me were going in the sewers with the rest of them. This time, It expects us there. It wants you dead! I need to protect you!" 

Winter could see the fear in his eyes as he talked to her.

She shook her head slowly and grabbed his hands, "The last time, Pennywise convinced you that if you didn't kill them, that It would kill me. There's more talk from It than there is action, because It's scared of us -- It's scared of all of us, but Its terrified of you and me." She continued to look into his eyes, as he looked into hers, "When you and me are together, we're strong and protect each other. I can't spend the next few hours alone at my place wondering if you are still alive. I can't do that, Henry! Don't make me do that. Don't go without me... Please don't go without me." 

Henry nodded and put his hand softly at the back of her head, bringing his forehead to hers. He starred deeply into her eyes, "You need to stay with me when we're down there, okay? You can't leave my side. I wouldn't be able to handle it if I lost you..." The idea made his knees feel weak with fear, but he continued to stand and look into her eyes, "I want to make sure everyone comes out alive, but you _need_ to come out alive, Winter." He sighed, "I went four years without you, I don't want to go the rest of my life without you. I won't be able to pull through if something happened to you." 

Winter softly ran her hand across the small bristles on his cheek; He had been so pre-occupied with everything going on the past couple of days that he found no time to shave. There was something in her that knew Henry wouldn't be able to stay with a sober life if she were to die. He became sober to get her back in his life, and if she died, he would lose his motivation to stay sober. 

"I won't leave your side..." she agreed. "After we get through it, we can focus on us." 

"That's all I want," he pulled her closer towards him and kissed her lips. "All my attention is going to be on you when this is over. Right when we get back here, I'm going to throw you on that bed and make love to you for hours. Then I'm going to take you out on a dinner date. After that we're going to stay in bed cuddling and talking for a full twenty-four hours." 

Winter could feel her knees becoming weak at all his ideas. She smiled, "You read my mind. I would like all of that a lot." 

They kissed deeply for a few seconds. They felt so much passion mixed with fear. It made them hold onto each other tighter as they kissed each other. 

Henry looked deeply into her eyes, and said, "Do you have your inhaler with you?" 

"It's in my pocket," she responded. She took in a deep inhale, and said, "Lets go kill this fucker." 


	39. Part 39: Into The Sewers (Red Rover, Red Rover)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  


The Losers, Henry and Winter all rode together in Henry's truck towards the Well Building in The Barrens. Henry, Winter, Bev, Mike and Ben rode inside the truck while Richie, Bill and Eddie rode in the cargo bed. Henry had taken the tonneau down and left it at his house so there was the extra room for everyone to ride along. 

They drove the truck through the hidden roadway in The Barrens so they could park as close as possible to the building. The whole ride was quiet during the five minutes it took to drive there; All of them were fearing the next few hours to come. 

Meanwhile, at Henry's house, Arnie was handcuffed to Henry's childhood bunk-bed in his room that he grew up in when he was a kid. 

Growing more and more impatient and enraged that they all left and locked him in the room, Arnie groaned and yelled. He was hoping he could yell so loud that a neighbour would hear him and try to get him out of there. The idea of a neighbour calling the cops to investigate didn't cross his mind, as he was under the cop’s radars for murdering five people during the weekend. He had no idea if the cops would be aware of his dead parents laying in his kitchen at home. 

"MOTHER FUCK!" Arnie yelled, as he continued to bang on the metal of the bunk bed stand, trying to free himself. 

The door to the bedroom opened, and walked in Vic. 

Arnie looked over to him. He appeared to Arnie how he would normally appear to Henry; A burned-up body with asphalt covering his whole body and one eye missing. 

"What the fuck!" Arnie jumped when he saw Vic. He knew it was him, but he had never seen him as a corpse. "I thought you would have been gone when the car blew up!" 

Vic walked up to him; "I've always been a ghost, Arnie. You can't kill a ghost. The only way I would disappear is if they end up killing Bob Gray..." he went on his knees to be eye-to-eye with Arnie as he sat on the ground, "You can't let them kill Mr. Gray, Arnie!" 

"They fucking locked me up in here, Vic! What the fuck am I supposed to do?!" he asked, annoyed. 

Vic smirked as he pulled out the cuff key from his pocket; "Luckily, Richie is stupid and left the police uniform in the washroom with the key in the pocket." 

Arnie smirked, "All right!" he said happily. 

Vic unlocked the cuffs from Arnie's wrists and handed him the key. Arnie shoved the key in his back pocket and put the cuffs in his other back pocket; He figured they could become useful. 

Arnie rubbed at his sore wrists and got up to his feet; "They left about ten minutes ago. How will I know where to go once I'm there?" 

"I know where they plan to go once they're in the sewers. We can beat them to the spot before they even get there. Bob Gray is already expecting them there." 

"Lead the way!" Arnie smirked, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets with vengeance from them locking him in the house. 

Before they left, Arnie went into Henry's kitchen and took the biggest knife he could find; An eight-inch butcher knife tucked in Henry's knife board. 

Vic smirked at the sight of him holding the sharp knife; "Time to draw blood, Arnie. Let's go get them -- Let's go get _her._ " 

Down in front of The Well Building in The Barrens, The Losers, Henry and Winter kneeled down in a circle to get out some last-minute words before they went into the sewers. 

"Let's take a moment to group, guys," Mike said. 

As they all kneeled, Winter and Eddie quickly looked into each other’s eyes as they sat across from each other. They both wished there was a moment that they could have talked before they were about to go into the sewers, but that moment never came. They continued to keep glancing at one another, just wishing they could have talked. 

Beside Winter was Henry, beside him was Bill, then Mike, Bev, Eddie, Ben, and Richie beside Winter. Henry had the turtle in his backpack and Winter kneeled there with her backpack of medical supplies. 

"Winter, aren't you plastic wrapping our wounds like you did last time before we went into the sewers?" Bev asked. 

Winter shook her head, "It ended up being pointless when that monster wave hit us." 

Ben sighed and put his hand to his forehead in fear, "I really hope that doesn't happen again. That was the worst part from last time." 

Henry turned his head to look at Winter beside him; He was really scared that he might lose her when they went into the sewers. He grabbed her hand and stroked his thumb against the meaty part of her hand. 

Richie rolled his eyes, "Yeah... Well... Now that you just said that, Ben, it probably will happen. Thanks for jinxing us."

"Beep beep, Richie," Bev said. 

"Maybe someone should say a few words before we go in..." Mike suggested. 

As Henry kept his eyes on the grass below him, he waited for someone to speak. A few seconds went by before he turned his head to look at Bill, who was the one to speak before they all went in the sewers last time. When Henry turned to him, Bill had his eyes on him. 

Surprised that Bill was looking at him, Henry looked towards the group and saw all their eyes on him. 

"I-I think everyone m-made you the leader, H-Henry," Bill softly smiled. 

Henry rubbed his chin as he looked deep in thought, surprised that everyone looked up to him as the leader this time around. 

"I'm not really too sure what to say..." he started off. He took a few moments to think, and then he said, "Just try to stay together. Even if that's difficult to do, maybe have a buddy system so no one ends up being alone." 

Altogether, the group, except Winter, called out, "Henry!" as their buddy. 

"Shut up, guys! I call dibs on Henry!" Richie said. 

Henry looked at all of them; "I'm staying by Winter." 

"It's because she gives you sex, isn't it?" Richie joked. 

"Shut up, Richie," Winter said quietly. 

"I'll stay with you, Bev," Ben said; Bev nodded. 

"M-Mike?" Bill asked. 

Mike nodded, "Sounds good." 

Richie and Eddie looked at each other. 

Eddie sighed, "Shit..." 

"Yep, we're going to die..." Richie said to Eddie. "I could always use you as a human shield." 

"No one's going to die," Henry said, although he couldn't be sure. 

"I-Is there anything else an-anyone needs to say?" Bill asked. 

Once again, Eddie and Winter looked at each other quickly, but they didn't speak. 

"Did someone think to bring a flame-thrower?" Richie asked. 

Everyone looked at Richie; Eddie, Winter and Bev rolling their eyes at his question. 

"No... Did you, asshole?" Eddie asked. 

"My penis is the size of a flame-thrower, but it doesn't shoot fire," Richie joked. 

Eddie rolled his eyes; "Can I trade my buddy for someone else?" 

Changing the subject, Ben asked; "Are we ready to go in or are we going to keep bickering?" 

Everyone quietly took a moment to look at each other one last time before getting up to their feet. They all took a moment to look at the Well Building, and then they all walked up silently to the entrance. 

When they all went into the main entrance and looked in the dark industrial inside of the building, they tried to remember which Well they went down to get to the tunnels when they were teenagers. 

They flashed their flashlights around and looked for the ladder. 

"It's the one down there..." Winter pointed her light. She had gone down that same Well twice, so she was more familiar with it. 

Winter kept her flashlight on the Well that they all needed to climb down into. They walked down the steele stairs. The all looked down the deep long Well with the ladder they had climbed down once before. 

As they looked down into the darkness, they heard a child laugh from the bottom of the tunnel. After It laughed, footsteps ran off on the wet ground. 

"What the fuck was that?!" Eddie asked, before taking an inhale of his puffer. 

"Like I fucking want to know..." Richie said, "Who's going first?" 

Bill sighed afraid, "I-I'll go fi-first." He climbed onto the ladder and began to make his way down the Well. 

Following behind Bill was Bev, Ben, Winter, Henry, Mike, Eddie, and then Richie.

When everyone had reached the sewer tunnel, they all looked at Winter as she had a better recollection on which way to go from there. 

Winter pointed her flashlight down the east tunnel.

As they walked, with Mike and Ben in front, Winter said, "During my last shift at Derry General, I was in the shower room in the hospital, and I heard my seventeen year old self in the drain. I don't know if it was a trick or if it was real, but I think the main area where Pennywise hibernates is right underneath the hospital." 

"You talked to your younger self in the shower?" Ben asked. 

"Yeah..." Winter spoke, "When I was stuck in here when I was seventeen, I had talked up to a drain where I heard a woman's voice telling me that I was going to be okay, and that I was going to be saved the next morning..." she looked up at Henry who was listening and looking at her, "It turned out that woman was me." 

"That's some far-out Black Mirror, Twilight Zone, shit..." Richie said. 

"It's Parallel Universes... Kind of like Black Holes..." Mike said. 

"Are you saying the sewers are like a Black Hole, Mike?" Eddie asked. 

"Would that really surprise you if it was?" Mike asked. 

Eddie looked ahead as Winter continued to shine her flashlight down different tunnels to turn into; "No..." he said. 

"How can you possibly remember all the tunnels to turn into, Winter?" Bev asked. 

Winter took a moment before she said, "Nightmares... Sometimes I don't think I actually left the sewers." 

Eddie quickly looked over to her, remembering the time she was having a nightmare when he was with her. She was sleep walking around her apartment and thought she was walking around the sewers. 

"You're quiet, Henry..." Ben pointed out. 

Henry looked at Ben; "Just thinking..." Thinking about what Arnie had told him about Winter, and thinking about how he was going to keep her safe, as he continued to hold her hand tightly. 

All eight of them continued to walk through the wet tunnels, making different turns according to which tunnel Winter would shine her flashlight from the middle of the group. The grounds were wet and the walls were dripping with water. The only sound was their footsteps and the water hitting the ground. 

As they remained quiet, Henry ran his hand into his back pocket. He realized that he still had the pocket knife that Vic gave Arnie in his pocket. It was a little bit reassuring that he had a weapon on him, even if it was a teenager’s tiny knife. The turtle in his backpack gave him some reassurance, too. 

"Th-There's the pl-pl-place we fought It th-the last time..." Bill pointed towards the entrance to the area. 

They all stood there, looking into the dark room that was bigger than all the others. 

"I always called this place the clown's freezer..." Winter said, "It's where It keeps the dead bodies that It hasn't eaten yet." 

They slowly all began to walk over towards the area, It's freezer, scared of what was going to be in that dark evil space. 

"Do you all find it kind of odd that there were no obstacles to get here? Like, the last time we all got pushed through that big wave... This time, it's nothing?" Richie asked. 

"It might have something worse planned, Richie. I wouldn't get too confident yet..." Bev said. 

Henry held onto Winter's hand tighter as they slowly walked into the familiar space where Winter injected the clown with fentanyl and Henry held It down for The Losers to defeat It. 

When they walked in, the place still had dead bodies floating up towards an infinite ceiling. The middle of the area was piled high with people’s junk to create a big structure that went up far. It was just like they all remembered. 

"This might be hard to believe, but we are right below the hospital's shower room right now..." Winter said, as they all looked up towards the ceiling that was so high that they couldn't see where the space ended; All they could see was numerous amounts of people floating. 

The area was cold, too. 

The area was circular with up to twelve different tunnels leading to other areas in the sewers that connected to Derry. As the tunnels continued in their long winding paths, they turned into new towns. Winter remembered walking one whole night and nearly passing the border to a new town. Pennywise had shown up and told her she couldn't leave Derry. It told her to turn around and that was when It left the three large claw marks on her stomach. 

"What do we do now, Henry?" Eddie asked. 

"We wait..." Henry replied, shining his flashlight everywhere. 

The sounds of children's laughter echoed from nearly every corner and every tunnel connected to the area. 

Everyone jumped and began looking at every corner, shining their flashlights everywhere. 

"I fucking hate ghost children! I can't fucking deal with them!" Richie panicked. 

They all looked around, trying to figure out where the giggles came from. 

"Um... Guys..." Mike said, standing still in fear. 

Everyone turned towards the massive pile of junk in the middle of the place where Mike was staring off in fear. They all shined their flashlights towards the area. 

They were faced with a long line of dead children (corpses) that were all holding hands and looking at them in front of the pile of junk. All the children's eyes were black, and their skin was rotting off; Their skin was blue and purple, as well. They were soaking wet with sewer water. 

Henry held onto Winter's hand even tighter, as all of them kept their eyes on the children. 

_"Red Rover, Red Rover; We call Richie right over!"_ they sang and giggled. 

"Uh-huh!" Richie shook his head frantically, "No way! No fucking way am I doing this shit!" 

_"Red Rover, Red Rover; We call Winter right over!"_ they sang. 

Henry put his body in front of Winter, shielding her if they ran over to them. 

Winter stared at the children, and said to her group, "I feel like the way through this is through them." 

"You're not going to be the one who goes," Henry said. 

_"Red Rover, Red Rover; we call Eddie right over!"_

Eddie's eyes went wide. 

Bev, Bill, Ben, Henry, Winter, Mike and Richie looked at him, as he stood there in fear, not knowing what to do.

"Go, Eddie!" Richie pushed his shoulder gently, "Go break their chain!" 

"I don't think I can..." Eddie said in fear as he stared at them all giggling at him. He took an inhale of his inhaler 

Bill continued to scan the chain of children. His eyes finally rested on a boy in a yellow raincoat with only one arm. 

Georgie.

The child next to him was holding onto the sleeve of the arm that had no arm attached to it. Him and Georgie stared at each other. 

"Maybe we should call Pennywise over to us if we played and made our own chain?" Ben suggested. 

"I don't know if that's the best idea either," Mike said. 

_"Red Rover, Red Rover; we call Stanley right over!"_

"Did they fucking call Stan over?" Richie asked, not believing what he had just heard. 

"What do you think, guys?" came a young voice from beside Winter and Henry; "Should I do it?" 

Henry and Winter jumped when they looked over and saw fifteen year old Stan standing beside them, grinning. 

Henry held onto Winter and backed the both of them away quickly. 

All eight of them looked at Stan in fear as he grinned at all of them. His skin was nearly blue and he smelled like death as he stood so close. 

"No fucking way, man! No fucking way!" Eddie said before taking a puff from his inhaler. 

Bill looked at the kids in their chain, keeping his eyes on Georgie. Without another thought, he ran as fast as he could between the side of Georgie with no arm and the other kid. He closed his eyes as he ran through, breaking their chain. 

All the kids giggled, and then disappeared. 

Bill opened his eyes and turned around, seeing his group of friends but no children and no Stan. 

Unexpectedly, the pile of junk broke open at the bottom, and there was Pennywise in his clown form. He jumped out at Bill standing at nearly eight-feet tall. 

Bill jumped and fell to the ground as the rest of the group stared at Pennywise in fear. 

"Haven't you played Red Rover before, Billy?!" Pennywise giggled, "You weren't the one that was called, you cheater!" 

"J-Jesus Ch-Christ!" Bill said from the ground as he backed away from the clown. 

Mike ran up to Bill and helped him to his feet quickly as Pennywise continued to walk closer. When Bill was back up on his feet, they both ran back to the group that was backing away. 

Henry continued to keep Winter behind him with her hand still in his. He turned around to face her, and said to her, "Don't let go of my hand. Whatever you do, just don't let go." 

Winter heard him, but she couldn't keep her eyes off of Pennywise that was approaching her. 

Henry put his hand on her face to look at him; "Do you hear me?" He could see the fear on her face. 

Winter looked into his eyes and nodded, holding onto him tighter in fear for his life, too. 

Eddie looked repeatedly, as he backed further away, from Pennywise to Winter. 

"Why are you keeping Winter from saying hi, Henry?" Pennywise smiled as It approached them closer, "She spent three days down here with me at one time! We're really close friends! She also comes down here in her dreams!" It looked at Winter; "Always hiding, though, when you're down here... What?! You don't want to spend some time with your good old friend, Pennywise?!" 

As Pennywise continued to walk towards Henry and Winter, Eddie felt fear for Winter as they both continued to back away with Henry shielding her. 

Eddie grabbed the first thing he could find; A piece of cement that was like a rock. He threw it at Pennywise's head. 

Pennywise stopped walking and angrily turned to Eddie. "Did you find your balls, Eddie?" 

"YEAH! AND THEY'RE BIGGER THAN YOURS, ASSHOLE!" Eddie yelled at It. 

Pennywise stared at all of them for a few moments. 

"You all think you're so much stronger when you're all together..." It said to them, "Let's fix that!" 

Pennywise stepped back as the place began to shake like an earthquake underground. 

Everyone tried to keep their balance as the sewers began to shake, from the floors to the walls. 

The pile of junk in the middle of the area started to shake violently. 

After a few moments, the pile dispersed into different directions and there was a wave of water forming like a tornado in one spot that went up to the infinite sky. 

Henry turned to Winter; "Don't let go of my hand!"

Everyone tried to run towards a tunnel. Before they could escape, the tornado of water unleashed into a massive wave. It hit everyone with incredible strength which could have caused broken bones if they got crushed to a wall, or even death. However, the wave separated all of them with its incredible force. 

Henry and Winter continued to try and hold on, but the impact separated them. All eight of them went with the waves into different tunnels. None of them knew where they would end up, but their fear at that time was drowning in the typhoon of a wave. 

Henry looked up from the water, looking for Winter and moving his arms underneath the water trying to find her. When he looked towards where Pennywise was standing, before he got thrown into a tunnel and back under the water, he saw Arnie peaking his head from a different tunnel. Henry thought he might have imagined seeing him as he watched Arnie smirking at him. 

"WINTER?!" Henry shouted, getting pushed by the water quickly down a tunnel. He didn't see anyone with him. He was alone. 

Winter took in a large inhale of air as she was being pushed down a separate tunnel from everyone else; "HENRY?!" She looked around for Henry before the water pushed her back underneath. 

Bill, Ben, Eddie, Bev, Mike and Richie were all separated as well, traveling with the waves down different tunnels. 

Eddie furiously looked around at his surroundings as he passed by a tunnel by himself for Winter, incase she might have been close by. He looked around for anyone. 

As everyone was struggling for control and air as the monster wave took them to different areas in the sewers, every time they looked up for air, Pennywise would visit all of them as they passed by, waving to them as they continued to travel down the tunnels. 

It was many minutes that passed by as they all struggled separately to stay alive. 

Winter's head emerged from the water and she gasped for air. She looked around, realizing she wasn't in the wave anymore, but she was traveling down the sewer tunnels in a forceful river like The Barrens, but it was still the sewers. She was relieved that she could finally keep her head above water as she was pushed with the river. 

"WINTER!" came a female voice coming up ahead, "GRAB MY HAND!"

Winter saw an arm close by to the side of the river. 

Winter quickly grabbed the arm and was pulled from the river. She was pulled onto the concrete ground. She coughed and took a puff of her inhaler to try and help her breathe. 

She looked up from the passing river beside her and was face-to-face with the old woman from her dreams. 

Eventually, Henry was thrown from the water into a tunnel where he landed on his bed at his home in Derry. 

Eddie was thrown from the wave, into the air, landing on his living room floor in Rumford, Maine


	40. Part 40: The Black Hole Pt. 1 (Winter Meets The Old Lady)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter continued to cough up water, as she sat on the ground with the old lady from her dreams kneeling in front of her. 

The old lady, dressed in her ripped knee-high black skirt and damaged Derry High sweater, looked into Winter's eyes, as if she were studying how alert she was; "Finally! You woke up!" She got up and extended her arm for Winter to get up, as well. 

Winter grabbed her hand and hoisted herself back up. 

As Winter pulled off her soaking wet sweater and tied it around her waist before putting her backpack back on, she said, "Thank you for saving me." She didn't question what the old lady meant when she said that Winter finally woke up.

"Is Pennywise behind you?" she asked, looking around every corner. 

Winter twisted her long hair to drain the water out; "I don't know, but I need to find Henry! I need to find my friends!" 

Winter turned to go run down back where she came from and find the tunnel that she was pushed through. Before she could run, the old lady pulled her arm. 

Winter turned back around to face her. 

The old lady sighed; "They're not down here, Winter..." 

Winter stared into her eyes, trying to figure out what the old lady could have meant. Every time Winter dreamed of her, she was trying to take care of her - to hide her from the monsters in the sewers, to protect her, and to _'wake her up'._

"Yes... Yes, they are..." Winter said to her. "We all came down here to kill Pennywise." 

The old lady exhaled deeply, needing to tell her something very important; "I'm going to have to explain everything to you... Again..." 

Winter furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out what she meant; "Who are you?" 

"I'm Becky Fitzgerald. I was taken by Pennywise, and I have been stuck down here since 1958... I was in senior year at Derry High School when the clown took me..."

Winter looked at her tired face, realizing that Becky would have been seventy-two years old at this moment. 

"I met you when you were seventeen. I didn't know the year it was when I met you, but you said it was 1997. You had a bad spout of some bacterial infection, and I cared for you, making sure you didn't die. You told me that the clown led you down here. The clown brought you down here for the same reason It brought me down here in 1958 -- To make your boyfriend go psychotic so he could kill whomever the clown wanted him to kill."

"Oh, my God..." Winter knew who she was as she kept explaining, "You're Ace Merrill's girlfriend..." 

Becky nodded, "I am... Ace was never a bad guy when I knew him... When the clown abducted me, Ace went crazy. Just like Henry, the clown did the same thing to Ace when he was a young adult; Made him believe that if he killed who he needed to kill, then I would be okay..."

"The history books of Derry said --" Realizations hit Winter, making her nervous of what else Becky was going to tell her, "They said that you were never found..." 

Becky nodded slowly, "That's right... I was never found, and I'm still alive here in the sewers, trying to hide from Pennywise now that's It's awake again..." Becky took Winter's hands in hers, and said, very seriously, "Just like you, Winter." 

Winter's eyes went wide as she stared at Becky's aged face; "No..." 

As Winter began to tear up with fear and denial, Becky tried to get her to re-focus on her; "Winter, we have been living everyday in the sewers together since you were brought down here..."

"No... You're wrong... You're lying!" Winter cried, but she couldn't help but believe what she was saying. 

"Winter, I need you to stay with me, okay?" she said seriously, trying to get her not to breakdown; "We don't know for-sure what year it is, but you keep telling me that you're thirty-two whenever you wake back up, and that it's 2012, so we will continue to believe that's right. That means you've been down here with me for fifteen years." 

Winter shook her head, "I have a life, Becky! Officer Hopper found me after three days of me being stuck down here... Henry, me and my friends came back down here to try to kill the clown... Henry and me moved to Pittsburgh before moving back to Maine... I work as a nurse..." 

Becky slowly shook her head; "Winter, this is going to be hard to hear, okay? I'm going to tell you everything..." 

Winter continued to cry, as she shook her head and looked at the ground; "No. No. No! No! It's all wrong! It's not true!" 

"Winter, you found a way to cope with the traumas of living down here by dissociating yourself and imagining the life you wish you had! You can sit in corners of the sewers and stare off for hours - even days! You disassociate from reality and go into your imaginary life!" Becky continued to talk as Winter looked at the ground and cried; "Then, when you wake up, and you're back down here with me, I have to tell you this all over again! You keep forgetting, because you're so wrapped up in your imaginary world. You usually run off from me, and then you turn off like a light-switch, and you go back to your disassociating!" 

Winter stared at the ground, traumatized, as Becky went on. 

"You've told me many times about what's happening in the world you created... You tell me about Henry, and how he's the love of your life, and how you guys will be getting married and one day having a family..." 

Winter looked back up at her, "Why would I daydream, in my _'perfect world',_ that Henry turned into an alcoholic and tried to kill himself then?! Why would I imagine that?!" 

Becky stared at her, hating having to explain all the painful details to Winter; "Because Pennywise told you the truth one day... It told you that, after you were never found, Henry killed your friends..." 

Winter fell to her knees so hard that they cut and bled, and she cried, "STOP LYING!" 

"Henry killed Eddie, Bev, Ben, Bill, Stan, Richie and Mike..." Becky kneeled down in front of her, grabbing her hands; "Henry was charged with seven-times first-degree murder. He continued to blame the clown, saying the clown told him that you would be okay if he did what Pennywise told him to do. He spent years and years in a mental hospital. The hospital would give him high doses of medications to sedate him from his anxiety episodes caused from his grief and depression for never finding you. In your make-believe world, you had him medicating himself from his traumas with alcohol instead of medicine. You changed his traumas from never being able to find you to having my boyfriend's ghost and his two friends attaching themselves to him..." 

Winter began to hyperventilate; She took her inhaler and inhaled deeply. All she could think about was Henry locked in a padded room, sedated on medications, thinking about her. 

"Henry killed himself in his hospital room about four years ago, Winter..."

Images of Henry's stiff body falling above her in her sleep flashed through her mind as she cried more and began to scream. 

"I'm sorry I have to keep telling you this, but you keep mentally disappearing, and I have to keep telling you over and over again!" Becky said, "It's your way of coping, but it's not working, Winter!" 

Winter kept crying, "You're wrong! YOU'RE WRONG!" 

"Look down at your outfit, Winter..." 

Winter looked down at her outfit; She was wearing the shorts she wore the day she went missing, and the purple t-shirt that was covered with hers and Georgie's blood. The outfit was dirty and ripped, but it was the same outfit that she wore the day Pennywise led her into the sewers. 

Winter screamed in turmoil and backed herself up to a wall, sitting there with her knees to her chest as she shook. 

Becky continued on, "After Pennywise told you that Henry killed himself, you tried to stay with reality as much as you could. That's probably why you never created much of a life in your make-believe world during the few years after Henry died. For a few years, you stayed here with me, in reality, and we lived in these dark sewers together..."

Winter continued to shake her head and cried.

"But, back a few months ago, you started to disassociate again. You couldn't cope with the thought of Henry killing himself any longer or being stuck down here... You began to disappear into your make-believe world again..." Becky inhaled deeply before she continued on, "You wanted to heal from the pain of Henry dying, so you created a way to heal... You began to fixate on one of your best friends from high school to help you move on..." 

"STOP TALKING!!" Winter cried more, punching the concrete wall so hard that she began to bleed. "EDZ IS REAL! MY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM WAS REAL -- LIKE THE RELATIONSHIP HENRY AND I HAVE ALWAYS HAD IS REAL!" 

Becky wiped tears that were falling down Winter's cheek; "You took the memory of your friend, Eddie, and aged him. You wanted him to help you pull through the death of Henry. You also made yourself into a nurse in your new imaginary life so you could try to cope with not being able to save Georgie and Lily when you were seventeen." 

"I am a nurse..." Winter cried quietly into her knees, "I am a fucking nurse..."

"In your imagination, you made your relationship with Eddie complicated. You gave him a wife... You did that, because you weren't completely over Henry. Eddie's wife symbolizes the wall you put between you and him, because you weren't actually ready to move on..." 

Winter continued to shake. She stared at the river of water passing in front of her. 

"Now that Pennywise woke up a few days ago, you brought Henry back into your imaginary life. You resurrected him from the grave in your mind, just like the rest of your friends. Now, I guess, you think you all came down into the sewers to kill It..." Becky paused before she continued, "You and I can't kill Pennywise, Winter. The life you created in your imagination can't kill It, either... All you and me can do is hide from It, until It goes back to sleep. But..." she shook Winter hard so she would look at her, "You need to stay awake, Winter! You can't fall back into your imagination, or else you could be killed!" 

Winter stared at Becky, feeling traumatized by everything she told her. She couldn't figure out if she was telling her the truth, or if this was a trick. All she knew was she dreamed about her many times, and she always told Winter to wake up. 

"I need... I need..." Winter couldn't put words together as she shakily got up to her feet. "I need to go! I just need..." Winter began to walk away from Becky with the current of the water, "I need to go!" 

Winter continued to walk without Becky following behind her. 

Winter stared out to the river in the sewer, mesmerized by it. Apart of her wanted to drown in it. She couldn't feel any of her emotions as she walked traumatized through the sewers. All those times she would sit in her washroom and hold a razor to her wrist popped in her mind. The same numbness and darkness she felt during the days in her washroom, was the same pain she was experiencing right now. It was the same pain and numbness Eddie helped her pull through when she couldn't cope with being away from Henry. 

At that moment, she really felt alone, and she was scared that Becky was telling her the truth. 

"How did she know their names?" Winter mumbled to herself as she walked, "Did I tell her their names? Is Becky the clown trying to trick me into killing myself?" She could feel her anxiety begin to boil in her chest and stomach. She fell to the ground and backed against a wall, repeating, "Where are they? Where are they? Where are they?" 

She thought she was going crazy as more memories of her walking through the sewers began to come to her mind. They were memories she didn't know she had before, until Becky told her that her whole life above the sewers was a lie she told herself to cope. 

"Henry... Edz... Guys... You can't be dead..." she cried, "There's no way I've been alone in the sewers for fifteen years..." 

Winter screamed as loud as she could with her anxiety boiling. She wanted to end her life, and there was something in her anxiety and pain that made her want to end her life right there and then without even waiting to see if one of them would show up, proving Becky wrong. 

Winter sat there on the cold floor and cried, trying to not go into an imaginary world. She was going to wait for someone to find her.


	41. Part 41: The Black Hole Pt. 2 (Eddie's Realization)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Eddie abruptly woke up on his living room floor. 

When he realized that he wasn't in the sewers, he quickly got up and felt his clothes. They were dry. He touched his cheek. There was no bandage. _Was it a dream?_ he wondered. 

He looked around his living room; Everything looked normal. 

"Myra?" he called, still confused. 

There was no answer. 

Eddie rubbed his hand through his hair; "That nightmare felt so real..." He sighed, "Thank God it was only a dream..."

Thinking that going back to Derry was just a dream, he felt his nerves relax and he could finally breathe again; Winter was still his girlfriend. The nightmare made him want to tell her everything. Everything that he hid from her regarding his feelings, and Henry. 

He grabbed his phone from his pocket. He searched Winter's name in his contacts, and clicked call. 

He put his phone to his ear and waited. 

Winter, still sitting on the cold concrete in the sewers as she tried to keep her sanity from leaving her, felt the vibration from her phone in her back pocket. 

Still shaking, she quickly grabbed the phone and looked at it. She wondered if her having a phone was her dissociating back into her daydreams as she sat in that corner of the sewers, or if this was real life and Becky was trying to trick her -- or Pennywise. 

She was relieved to see Eddie's name pop-up on the screen. 

Still shaking and crying, she answered; "Hello? Edz?" 

"Winter!" Eddie exclaimed. 

Winter could hear him exclaim her name over the phone, but she could also hear it from the other side of the wall she was sitting against. She looked to the wall and put her hand on it, realizing that Eddie was just on the other side. 

"Winter..." Eddie continued, as he laughed in relief of things feeling normal after his weird nightmare; "I had the worst fucking nightmare ever. I'm just so glad to hear your voice..." 

Winter blinked, feeling confused, wondering what was happening on the other side of the wall. 

Eddie paced around his living room as he spoke, "I need to tell you some stuff... In March, that day when I went to get my car fixed in Derry, I ended up going to Henry's business. I also had coffee with him afterwards..." 

Winter squinted her brows. She already knew this. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't tell you, because when we lived with each other back in February and March, I never been so happy in my life. I felt like I had finally settled down with my soulmate. I know you didn't see me like that, but there was something between us, and it was so easy for us to live together. We didn't argue once. I know you felt it, too. I know I should have told you about Henry, but I'm telling you now, because I want you to have the option in deciding what you want to do..." 

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose as she cried. She wondered why Eddie was doing this, and what was going on. She also wondered if this was real, or if she was sliding back into her delusional thoughts. 

"But, before you decide, I want you to know that you are not the _'other woman'_! I know you think you are sometimes, but you are not that to me!" He paused for a few seconds before he said, "I love you, Winter... I've loved you since I was a kid..." 

Winter put her hand to her face as she continued to cry. 

"Myra's not home right now, but the moment she gets home, I'm telling her I'm done with her, and I want a divorce. If you want to stay with me, you would be making me the happiest man in the world." He cleared his throat, and then added with a sad tone, "But if you want to go speak to Henry before you decide. If you choose him over me, I am still going to divorce Myra, because the love I have for you never existed between me and Myra. If you think Henry is your soulmate, I will be whatever you want me to be; I will be a friend, a stranger, or if you want me to get lost..." He exhaled some air, "I just know that you're my soulmate... As long as you're happy, then I'm happy for you, no matter what you choose."

Winter continued to cry as she listened to him. "Edz..." she didn't know what to say, "Are you real, or are you apart of my imagination?" 

Eddie blinked and shifty-eyed around his living room; He didn't expect that question. 

"What do you mean? Of course I'm real..." Fear began to fill up his stomach as the dream of the sewers began to come back to him. Nervously, he asked, "Are you okay? Where are you?" 

Winter sniffled, "I'm still in the sewers... Aren't you?" 

Eddie's eyes went wide. Slowly, he responded, "I'm in my living room, Winter..." 

Winter wiped her cheeks, "I can hear you on the other side of the wall I'm sitting against, Edz." 

Eddie looked up towards the wall in front of him. After she had said that, he realized he could hear her on the other side, too. 

"Edz, I don't know if you're real or not, but..." Winter began to cry more as she didn't know if what Becky told her was the truth, "But... I need you... I'm so scared... I think I'm going crazy."

Eddie wondered why she kept doubting if he was real. Hearing her so scared that she was crying like how she was at that moment, made Eddie want to find her badly. 

He walked up towards the wall and put his hand against the drywall. He sighed as he placed his forehead to the wall, talking to her on the other side; "I'm going to find you, Winter." 

When he was about to figure out how to get through the wall, he heard the front door open. 

"EDDIE?!" shouted Myra's voice.

"EDDIE-BEAR?!" shouted his mom. 

"Shit!" Eddie mumbled, "Winter, hang tight, okay? I'm going to get over my fear, and then I'll find you. That's what this is... conquering our fears... Right?" 

"Be careful, Edz..." Winter said before hanging up. 

Winter didn't know how to conquer her fear when hers was psychological. She didn't know if anything in her life was real, and she didn't know if that phone call was real. 

Eddie stood in the living room, waiting for Myra and his mom -- or Pennywise -- to come in the room. He held his breath as he waited. 

Myra stormed into the room. She first looked at him, and then to the floor, and then back up at him; "Eddie! The floor is drenched in water! Why are you all wet?! Why do you have that bandage on your cheek?!" 

Eddie looked down at himself; He wasn't dry anymore. He was soaking wet. He quickly touched the side of the cheek that had no bandage on it a few minutes ago. The bandage was now there.

"See, Sonia?! This is what I need to put up with everyday from your son! Then, when I ask him a question, he looks like a deer caught in the headlights!" Myra snapped. 

Sonia, Eddie's mom, walked in and looked at Eddie; "Eddie, you're going to get sick if you walk around in wet clothes! What happened to your face? You're going to get Hepatitis!" 

Keeping his mind on Winter sitting on the other side of the wall, and realizing this was his fears projecting from his subconscious, Eddie went straight to the point; "Myra, we're getting a divorce! You've never been my soulmate. I've never loved you. I didn't know if I could love anyone, but there is someone I love very much. She doesn't want to be with me, but it doesn't matter, because I know how it feels like to love someone, and I know I can't feel that with you. It would be unfair for you if I stayed with you." 

Myra and Sonia stared at Eddie in disbelief; "Eddie, I will destroy everything you have if you leave! I will take your business and your money!" 

Eddie dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wallet; "Take everything! Having my money taken from me is nowhere as painful as having my heart ripped out of my chest by the woman I do love!" He threw his wallet on the ground in front of her feet; "Just take it all!" 

Myra angrily looked from Eddie's wallet on the floor to Eddie; "She doesn't want you, Eddie." It wasn't Myra's voice anymore, it was the clown. 

"She's sewer garbage!" his mom said, but it was the clown's voice again. 

Eddie could feel his veins boiling. He looked at his mom and said between his teeth, "Don't _ever_ call her that!" 

"Henry's her soulmate, Eddie!" Myra hissed, "Not you!" 

Myra's skin began to change a blue colour as Eddie was starting to become unafraid of her.

Eddie took in a deep breath as the two women in front of him were slowly changing into Pennywise. They were changing because he wasn't afraid anymore. He pretended like he didn't see their appearances changing and continued to speak to them normally. 

"It could change in the future, Myra!" Eddie fought back.

"She's Henry's soulmate until he dies!" his mom said, who was now slowly turning into a clown.

"Stop!" Eddie said, "She is still my soulmate! Maybe the time isn't now, but it could be in the..." then he paused as his _'mom's_ ' last words absorbed into his mind. As realization hit him, he twisted his head in thought and scrunched his eyebrows at her, "Wait... what did you say?" 

Myra and his mom -- Pennywise -- continued to stare at Eddie as he began to go deep in thought.

Eddie turned towards the wall that Winter was behind. The wall was replaced with a shield of glass, and he could see Winter sitting on the ground, in the sewers, with her knees to her chest as she shook in fear. His living room was disappearing as his fears were completely fading away.

Eddie repeated Pennywise (his mom) as he stared at Winter sitting there; "She's Henry's soulmate until... Until the day... the day Henry dies?"

Henry's voice from the day before repeated in Eddie's mind as he watched Winter...

_"I don't know everybody's futures, only a couple of you. I'm not going to say anything because no one should know too much about their own future. But, I messed up the natural timeline of the universe when I died. When I died, the universe was tricked and thought I permanently died, which caused a ripple in some of your lives. It caused future events in some of your lives to happen now, within the past four years, that aren't actually supposed to happen until the actual day of my death, which was not supposed to be the day that I hung myself."_

"Oh, my God..." Eddie said, "The turtle theory... The future and the present timelines are crossed... Henry already knows..." he said to himself. "Oh, my God..." 

Eddie walked over to the shield of glass that separated him and Winter. He stared at her with love and realization as he sat on the ground where his living room was. He didn't care that the clown disguised as his mom and wife were talking to him still, nagging at him; He needed to talk to Winter. 

"Winter?" Eddie placed his hand on the glass. She looked so scared.

Winter's head snapped up to Eddie's voice, and she stared at him. She was confused and shocked by the glass that had replaced the wall. Her eyes rested on his face. 

"Edz?" She put her hand to the glass; "Why is there glass?" 

"I don't know..." Eddie said as he stared into her eyes, "Maybe it's a symbol of something... I just faced my fears, and now everything's back to normal on my side. Maybe it means that you're still not out of your fears yet..." He looked at the whole wall of glass before resting his eyes back on her as he thought about the Turtle Theory and how it affected both of their lives, "Or... maybe it's a wall we're not supposed to break between each other yet." 

_So close, yet so far_... Eddie thought.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. 

Winter shook her head, "I don't know what's real and what's not." 

Eddie wished he could just hug her. He hated seeing her cry; "What do you mean?" 

"Do you know the old lady from my dreams that I've told you about?" 

Eddie nodded. 

"I just met her. She's down here. She told me that I never left the sewers, and everything that I've had with Henry, and with you, is just my imagination. She said I cope by dissociating into an imaginary life." 

As Eddie listened to Winter, he realized that the nagging from Myra and his mom stopped. He quickly turned around, and he noticed that they had left. He beat Pennywise's tricks. It was just him and Winter separated by a wall of glass.

He turned back to Winter, "Are you thinking everything that happened between us wasn't real? Because, I was definitely there through all of it, and it sure was real to me."

Winter placed a strand of hair behind her ear; "Everything's felt real..." She looked into his eyes, "I hope it was real. I honestly wouldn't take it back for anything." 

"Everything's been real, Winter. Pennywise is playing with your fears. I know you enough to say that your fear is still being stuck in the darkness of the sewers." He gazed into her eyes, "Am I right?" 

Winter nodded, "That has always been my fear since Pennywise took me down here... But everything she said was so real. After she said it all, I had memories of being stuck down here for years, but I don't remember them happening. They're in my head, though." 

"Was there anything that happened during your conversation with her that could have proven that everything she told you was a lie?" Eddie asked. 

Winter bit her lip, as she thought about it. She looked back down to her outfit, and she was back in the pink tank top and jeans that she had on earlier that day. Eddie was helping her get out of her head and back into reality. "Well... I took an inhale from my puffer at one point when she was talking to me." 

Eddie softly smiled at her, "You didn't get asthma until after you were saved from the sewers... Unless she leaves to go get your prescription for you, I don't think you're still stuck down here. Last thing I remember, I was the one who grabbed your last refill." 

Winter closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead in relief as she smiled; "Oh, my God..." He was right. She felt like she could finally breathe again. "You're right." 

Eddie smiled at her. 

There was a few moments of silence, until Eddie broke it; "I'm sorry I put all my feelings on you like that during that phone call. I woke up on the floor, and I thought I was in my living room, like everything had been a dream, and it inspired me to tell you everything that I should have told you months ago." 

Winter softly smiled at him. She didn't expect him to tell her that he loved her, and it broke her heart that the timing just didn't seem right for their relationship -- since she wasn't over Henry and he was still married to Myra. 

Winter cleared her throat and looked down; She said, "Henry and me are going to get married, Edz..." She paused and looked back at his face, "I'm so sorry... I want you to know, though, that you hold a big place in my heart, and you took me out from a very dark place."

Eddie, still feeling heartbroken, stared at her as he listened. He felt sad, but he was also feeling okay about it. 

Winter continued on, "It's okay that you didn't tell me about meeting up with Henry in Derry. I understand why you didn't tell me, and I forgive you for it. What you've done for me, just by being there for me and opening my heart back up when I was so numb, is what really matters to me. I was having really bad thoughts and anxiety attacks before we bumped into each other."

Eddie smiled softly at her; "I remember you telling me that sometimes you felt like Henry had died, and you had no idea if he was alive or dead..." Eddie began, wanting to see if Winter had connected the same dots that he did; "Do you find it interesting that you and me ran into each other when we did? We both helped each other; I helped you pull out of your depression when you were grieving when it felt like Henry had fallen off the earth, and you helped me realize that I could love with my heart."

Winter thought about what he said; "I think everything happens for a reason, and the universe has our lives planned out for us... Like, I don't think what happened between us was random, but it was mean't to happen." 

Eddie nodded, agreeing to that answer. He realized, though, that she didn't know how the turtle affected both their lives. 

Eddie tried to sound casual, as he asked, "What do you think about this Turtle Theory that Henry and Mike were talking about last night?" 

"Um..." Winter paused to think, "I tried asking Henry about it. All he told me was that I was going to be okay after he actually does die."

Eddie smiled softly at her. He knew Henry knew all along. Henry was only mad that he lied to him. 

Winter continued, "I don't think he wants anyone to know anything that he does about what the turtle showed him. He says that all he wants is to protect me, and if I knew what what he knows, then it could mess things up for me." 

Eddie nodded. He was sure that Henry didn't want him knowing either, but he wasn't going to tell Winter what he had figured out. He didn't want to mess up the future now that he could finally feel like he had clarity over it, and that he could breathe again. 

"Can I ask you something?" Eddie asked. 

Winter nodded. 

He took a moment, and then said, "I know you could never have the same feelings for me like you do for Henry, but..." he hesitated before he asked, "During our relationship, did you ever love me?" 

Winter weakly smiled at him, "Yeah, Edz... There's no way I couldn't have fallen in love with you... Just who you are took me out of a real dark place, and you opened my heart back up when I thought it was closed. You inspired me to finish that song for Tom Hank's wedding venue." She smiled more brightly at him as a tear ran down her cheek; "This is just our little secret, Edz, but I wrote that song for you when you opened my heart back up. I will only think of you if I ever hear it again."

Eddie exhaled a small laugh under his breath, as he could feel his heart healing. 

"For a few minutes, I forgot we were in the sewers about to fight a clown," Eddie laughed lightly. 

Winter giggled, "Same here." As Henry passed through her mind, she wondered out-loud; "Do you think Henry's okay?" 

Eddie softly smiled at her, "Yeah! Henry's, like, five-foot-seven, and he could easily snap all of us in half," he laughed lightly. "I'm pretty positive that he's fine." 

Winter let out a tiny giggle and nodded. She paused as she looked into Eddie's eyes; "Thank you for everything, Edz..." She kissed her index finger and middle finger, and then pressed it against the glass towards his lips. "I'll never forget what we had together." 

"I'll never forget it either, Winter." He kissed his index finger and middle finger and placed them on the glass in front of her lips. He knew, though, that when the present timeline was back to normal, they would forget, because their relationship hadn't happened yet, and it wouldn't happen for many years, as long as him and her made it out of the sewers alive. 

"So, how do we find the others?" Winter asked. 

Eddie looked around, "There must be a tunnel somewhere that you and me can find each other." 

Winter nodded, "I walked down here from that way..." she pointed north, "Let's walk that way, and maybe we'll be able to find a tunnel." 

Eddie looked towards the direction she was pointing, and nodded, "Okay. Just be careful. Call me if you get lost if your reception is still working." 

They both got up to their feet. 

"You, too, Edz," Winter agreed. 

Both Eddie and Winter walked down the north tunnel, hoping to find away to each other. 

Winter continued to walk against the river that she had been swept through a while ago before Becky grabbed her hand. She felt confident after the conversation with Eddie that the encounter she had with Becky was just a trick from Pennywise. 

As Winter went to turn the corner, she was pulled back with a hand forcefully covering her mouth. 

She tried to scream, but her sound was muffled by the tight grip. 

The hand forcefully pulled her head back. 

She looked up towards the face of the person detaining her. 

Arnie. 

"I guess we can finally get to know each other a bit," Arnie joked, however his facial expression looked very serious. "Maybe it's a good time for you to close your eyes." 

Winter kept trying to scream. She also needed to take an inhale of her medicine very badly. 

As she watched Arnie, she noticed the brick of concrete in his free hand that he was raising up. 

As forcefully as he could, he slammed the concrete to the side of her head. 

Winter fell unconscious. 


	42. Part 42: The Black Hole Pt. 3 (Henry's Breaking Point)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally imagine the 1990 Henry Bowers with the 2019 Losers Club, but you guys can imagine whichever Henry Bowers that you'd like :) !! Enjoy !!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

__

_Winter was bashed with a concrete brick to the side of the head..._

Henry jolted his head from his pillow. 

"Shit!" he exclaimed from the nightmare he had about Winter getting hit. 

Right when his eyes opened up, Henry's head pounded and his body felt like he was run over by a bus. 

"Jesus Christ!" he said, putting his hand to his head and rubbing; "What the Hell happened?" 

Then, he remembered... Winter, The Losers, Pennywise, and the sewers. 

He removed his hand from his head and looked around his room; "How did I get here?" he asked himself, confused. 

Henry blinked his eyes hard as he put his feet from the bed onto the floor. Before he could get up, he realized how dizzy he was. He sucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth due to the vile taste in his mouth. 

It was the taste of alcohol.

He began to dry-heave at the realization that he must have relapsed the night before. 

_But... When? How? Why?_

Henry ran to his washroom attached to his room, opened the toilet bowl and puked. As the taste of alcohol was still in his vomit, he continued to puke more. 

He flushed the toilet and sat on the floor, "What the fuck happened last night?!" he said to himself as he clenched his head. 

_What happened to killing Pennywise with Winter and The Losers? Where was Winter?_ he wondered. 

"Hey, Bowers!" 

Henry took his hand away from his forehead to look at the doorway. 

Ace Merrill was standing there with Vic and Belch standing right behind him. 

Henry jumped in fear, and then winced when the scare hurt his head even more. He moved over to the corner of the room. 

"What the fuck are you guys doing here?!" 

Ace smirked, "Don't you remember, or did that whole bottle of Jack Daniels make you stupid?" 

Henry squinted, confused, "I drank? I haven't drank since I left Pittsburgh!" He stumbled onto his feet and looked in the mirror. The scar on his eyebrow was still there. "I wasn't dreaming..." He looked at the three teenage ghosts smirking at him; "Where's Winter?" 

Henry pushed through the three at the door to go back into his room. 

"Poor kid doesn't remember!" Vic said, laughing. 

Henry grabbed his sweater and shoes in a hurry, and he began looking for his truck keys. 

"Where are you going, Bowers?" Ace asked. 

"In the sewers," Henry muttered. 

"Why?" Belch laughed, "There's no point! It's all over, dude!"

Henry looked up at Belch with fear in his eyes, "What do you mean?" 

"Wow!" Vic chuckled, "He really doesn't remember..." 

Henry furrowed his eyebrows in anger and worry, "I swear, if you're fucking with me, I will --" 

"You will what, Henry?" Ace smirked. "Kill us; three ghosts? Kill yourself again?" 

Henry pursed his lips in anger, "Where the fuck is Winter?!" 

Ace, Vic and Belch looked at each other and laughed. 

"Fuck, guys..." Belch smiled, "He really doesn't remember." 

"Hey, Henry..." came a voice beside Henry. 

Henry turned his head and was faced with Bob Gray; Pennywise disguised in Its human form. 

Bob Gray grabbed onto Henry's arm, and Henry felt a ripple from below him as he saw visions in his mind. 

_Henry and Winter were running in the sewers. They were down a tunnel by themselves as the others were in another tunnel, trying to figure out a plan on how to defeat the monster._

_"Henry, It's gone!" Winter said._

_"Where did It go?" Henry stopped in his tracks with Winter's hand in his._

_Only a moment passed, but he felt Winter's hand tighten in his and there was blood everywhere._

_Henry quickly turned to her as she inhaled sharply._

_He gasped at the sight of the love of his life standing with Pennywise behind her; Its claws had gone straight through her back and out her stomach._

_Winter stared at Henry with tears in her eyes and blood coming from her mouth and her stomach._

_"Henry..." Winter said weakly._

_Pennywise quickly took Its arm out from her body and laughed as she fell forward into Henry's arms._

_"No, no, no, no, no!" Henry cried as he held onto her body._

_Henry looked over to where Pennywise was standing, but It was gone. He slowly sat down on the ground and laid her down with her head resting in his lap as she continued to bleed out._

_"Winter?!" Henry cried while he put his hand over her stomach to stop the uncontrollable bleeding, but she was bleeding too much. "No, Winter, please don't leave me! Please don't go! I love you so much!"_

_Weakly, Winter lifted her arm and placed her hand at the back of Henry's head. She softly ran her fingertips on his skin._

_Henry placed his hand to the side of her face and moved his face closer to hers as he panicked; "Remember, baby? We can't live in a world without each other in it, right? Remember? Please don't leave... I can take care of you! I can make you better!"_

_"Baby..." Winter said weakly, "I'll always be with you..." She weakly looked into his tearful eyes, "I will always... love..."_

_Winter's body went limp in Henry's arms. Her arm around his neck fell to her side. Her eyes were open, but they were lifeless._

_"NO! WINTER!" Henry cried, "No, baby!!!"_

_Henry turned her face to look back at him, but he couldn't see her anymore in her blank eyes. He took her limp arm that was previously around his neck and put it back around the back of his neck._

_"Baby!!" He placed his forehead to hers and cried. "You can't leave! I'm supposed to die before you! Please! I can't live without you!"_

_He was hoping Winter would wake back up. He hoped his love for her would bring her back to him like it did after four years of being apart. He was in denial that the Turtle was wrong about the future. He couldn't live his life without her in it._

_"NO!!!" he cried as hard as he ever had._

_In the distance, in another tunnel, he could hear The Losers fighting the clown, but he couldn't do anything. His mind couldn't work, and he couldn't get himself to stand up and help them, leaving Winter behind._

_"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Richie shouted at the others._

_"EDDIE!" they all shouted in a panic. "NOOO!!!"_

_"WHERE'S HENRY?! WE NEED HENRY!" Mike shouted. "HENRY?! WINTER?!"_

_Henry heard them calling for him, needing his help, but he couldn't move. He was paralyzed in shock as he continued to cry and hold Winter's lifeless body._

_One by one, their voices began to stop._

_They were all dying, and Henry couldn't do anything._

Bob Gray removed his hand from Henry. 

Henry fell backwards with the visions he saw of Winter dying in his arms. He cried and panicked as he backed himself into the corner of his room and brought his knees to his chest as he rocked back and forth with anxiety. 

"It's not true! It's not true!" he repeated over and over again with tears running down his cheeks. 

"It's okay, Henry," Ace smirked, "We can all go to the liquor store later so you can drink your memories away."

"FUCK YOU!" Henry shouted and threw his shoes at Ace. 

Ace laughed at them hitting his stomach. A ghost couldn't feel any pain. 

Henry put his wet face to his knees and continued to cry like a little child who had lost everything. "It didn't happen!" he said into his knees. "I didn't come out of the sewers..." 

As he thought about it, he couldn't remember ever getting home. All he remembered was being pushed through the sewer tunnels by the big wave. 

Henry ran his arms down his pant legs. He realized that he was soaking wet. He wasn't wet a few minutes ago, but as he began to realize that he never came home, his clothes began to stick to him with moisture.

He looked up from his knees at what he was wearing; He was wearing the same ripped jeans and black t-shirt he was wearing when he went into the sewers, and everything was dripping wet from water. 

He _knew_ that he never left the sewers. 

Henry wiped the tears from his face and shakily got back up to his feet. He looked from Ace, Belch, Vic and Bob Gray. 

"You can always finish what you started, Henry..." Bob Gray smirked, pulling down a rope with a loop at the end of it. "You don't have to live with this pain anymore." 

That's what they all wanted. They wanted to trick Henry so he would end his life, and Henry knew it at that moment while they smiled at him as they looked from him to the rope. 

Henry looked from the rope to his bedroom window, where there were rainclouds outside on that dark day. He knew he needed to get out of his fears and get back to the sewers to save Winter.

Without thinking twice, he walked over to his window and opened it up. He looked down towards his driveway that was a thirty foot drop. He stepped up on the window-ledge and looked back towards Bob Gray and the ghosts; "I've already tried the rope before... It didn't work. I've already looked death in the eyes and won. I'm not scared to do it again."

Henry jumped from the window. 

Within a few seconds, he dropped to the concrete ground of the sewers with a big thud.

Henry coughed at the impact, and he could really feel the impact of the fall in his body. 

He looked up towards where he fell from; It was a tunnel close to the ceiling, which was about a twelve foot drop. 

As quickly as he could, he got back up to his feet. 

Henry wondered how the turtle was after that tidal wave and the drop. He took off his backpack where the turtle was the entire time and unzipped the bag. 

The turtle was gone. 

Henry pinched the bridge of his nose; "Shit!" he muttered. He didn't know where the turtle was and if he was okay, but that was the last on his priority list at the moment. 

Needing to find Winter on his mind, he looked towards each direction; All he saw were tunnels. He didn't know which tunnel to turn down into, but he went with his gut instinct that guided him down a tunnel to the right. 

As he walked down the dark and wet tunnel, he could feel anxiety in his stomach with the idea of Winter being lost in the sewers without him. He just imagined her feeling scared and turning corners into the unknown. 

"WINTER?!" he shouted, hoping she would respond back. 

Henry stopped walking when he heard footsteps from behind him. 

"HELLO?!" he called down the tunnel where he saw a flashlight lightening up the tunnel. 

"HENRY?!" called a male voice. 

It sounded like Richie. 

"RICHIE?!" 

Richie ran up to Henry, splashing his feet on the wet ground as he rushed to him. 

"Fuck, Henry!" Richie exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath, "Am I ever fucking happy to see you!"

"Have you seen Winter?" Henry asked him. 

Richie shook his head, "No! I haven't seen Eddie or Winter. Bill, Bev, Mike, Ben and me found where Pennywise's real hide-out is. We need to find Eddie to perform the Ritual of Chud. According to Mike, it needs to be the six of us that perform it, but he wants you and Winter close by." 

Henry sighed, he just wanted to go and find Winter; "I don't know, Richie. I really need to find Winter." 

The sounds of running through water came from the other direction of the tunnel. 

Richie and Henry shined their flashlights down the tunnel and waited to see who would run out next. 

"HENRY?! RICHIE?!" yelled another male voice. 

Eddie. 

"Thank fucking God!" Richie exclaimed as they saw Eddie's light running towards them. 

"Jesus!" Henry sighed, he was relieved that Eddie was okay, but he needed to find Winter. "Have you seen Winter?" He asked Eddie. 

Eddie took an inhale of his medicine, and then said, "I was talking to her through a tunnel wall. We were trying to find each other, but I've been walking for along time, and I haven't found her." 

"Fuck!" Henry said as he began to panic. He ran his hand over his head as he began to sweat with worry. 

"Her cell phone was working, but I think she lost reception, cause it goes straight to voicemail now," Eddie said with concern in his tone. 

Henry quickly looked back to Eddie; "What direction were you guys going?"

"We were walking north, but I still couldn't find her when I was walking that direction. There was one tunnel that connected that I thought would lead to her. There was a long river traveling down towards The Barrens, but she wasn't anywhere. I know that's where she was! She just disappeared, though!" 

Henry put his hand under his chin as he tried to think of what way north would have taken him. 

Eddie kept his eyes on Henry's face, wondering if there was any expression in Henry's face that could have told him that his assumptions about what he thinks Henry knows about him and Winter in the future, after Henry dies, was true. He didn't see anything in his expression other than concern for Winter, though. 

"Okay..." Henry began, "You two need to go back to where the others are and perform your Ritual of Chud, and do whatever Mike tells you. Once I find Winter, we will be there to help you guys out." 

"Well, for fuck sakes!" Richie exclaimed, "You're like our John Wick, dude! We're just supposed to fight this thing without you?!" 

"Are you sure you don't want our help finding her, Henry?" Eddie asked, concerned for Winter, too. 

Henry shook his head, "No... I need to find Winter, and you guys need to complete the prophecy." 

"Oh, great!" Richie said sarcastically, "The prophecy says we're either all going to die, or one of us is going to die!" 

Henry rubbed his forehead annoyed, "Richie, I'm fucking stressed enough, man! Just do what Mike tells you guys to do! He knows about the Ritual, so just do what he says!"

Eddie reached into his pocket to make sure he still had his token. It was still there; His letter he wrote for Winter in the library when he was fifteen. 

"Just wondering, guys..." Henry began, "I think it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I thought I saw Arnie down here... Did you guys see him?" 

Eddie and Richie both shook their heads. 

"I put those cuffs on him tight and left the key in the washroom," Richie reassuringly smiled, "There's no way he could have gotten out." 

"I didn't see him either," Eddie chimed in. 

Henry nodded, satisfied with Richie's answer; "I'm just probably seeing things." 

"Well, fuck..." Eddie sighed, "I hope you find Winter, Henry..." 

Eddie really hoped she was okay, but he was really scared that something could have happened to her. 

"Let's go and kill this fucking clown," Richie said to Eddie. 

As Eddie and Richie were about to walk down the opposite end of the tunnel, Henry looked one last time at Eddie. "Hey, Eddie..." 

Eddie turned to Henry, and looked at the concerned look on his face. 

"Don't try to be a hero..." Henry said, "You'll be a hero in another way one day, but don't try to be a hero today... Please..."

Eddie saw the scared expression on Henry's face. Eddie slowly nodded, trying to figure out what Henry already knew about his future, but he couldn't figure it out. He just knew it had to do with Winter after Henry's death, but he could also see that Henry was scared that another result would come out of the fight they were going to have with Pennywise on this day. 

"Sure, man..." Eddie said, "I'll try to stay low." 

Henry nodded, not very confident in what was going to happen with The Losers, but took Eddie's answer for what it was. 

He sighed as he shun his flashlight down the tunnel that Eddie ran to them from and continued to look for Winter. 


	43. Part 43: Into The Sewers (An Emotional Death)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
There was a flashback in Winter's mind. The memory she was having was when Henry and her were sixteen, after the turtle had turned all of them into adults during the Christmas concert. She was watching the memory in her mind as if it were a dream with her eyes shut tight. She was finding it too hard just to let her eye-lids open. _  
_

_"What happened at the concert?" Henry asked. "I felt so many different things, and at one point I think I saw you guys as adults. No one else saw it, I don't think... But you were all... I don't know... in your late twenties or early thirties."_

_"We did turn into adults, Henry. You did too. I saw you as an adult whenever I looked at you. I didn't know that you saw it like we did too, though?"_

_"Yeah, and there were memories with every single one of you guys. I couldn't figure out the memories... With you, it was like how I feel for you now, but stronger, and I kept thinking that I needed to make things right to protect you. I kept having this thought that said, 'As long as I'm on earth, and we're on earth together, we're soulmates, and it's the order of the universe.'" Henry opened his mouth to speak but nothing could come out at first. Winter rubbed his arm to encourage him to keep talking. "I don't even know what that means, 'it's the order of the universe'?... But something is going to happen to me that makes me wiser and makes me feel peaceful with the outcome of everything."_

_He continued to keep speaking, "I don't even know Bill, Richie, Stan or..." he thought about it, "Or..."_

_"Eddie," Winter helped._

_Henry's expression became thoughtful, "Right... Eddie..." He said slowly as he continued to think. Winter watched him as he looked deep in thought, trying to pull out memories that didn't exist yet as he spoke of every name._

Winter was able to finally open her eyes back up. 

Her vision was blurry, the sewers looked like they were spinning, and it felt like her whole skull was bruised to the side. She could feel the drips of blood running from the side of her head down the side of her face towards her chest. She was too weak make a fuss to get away. She couldn't move much either as she sat on the cold floor against the wall with her arms cuffed together behind her back. 

"Fucking finally..." said a voice from close beside her. 

Winter lolled her head to the side and looked at Arnie as he sat on the ground in front of the river running through the sewers. Her eyes were having a hard time focusing, as she tried to blink the blurriness away, but she noticed the long butchers knife in his hand. 

Arnie rubbed at the side of the blade of the knife, "I didn't know if I should have killed you while you were passed out, so you wouldn't feel any pain..." He quickly got up to his feet, and with a lot of animation in his facial expressions, continued on, "But then I thought, Henry always told me that once he found you again, that I would be the first person he would introduce you to. So, it would really be rude if I just decided to kill you without us properly introducing ourselves!" He grinned brightly at her. 

This kid did turn into a psychopath. 

Winter put her weight against the wall as she slowly slid up to a standing position with some struggle. She continued to watch Arnie as she tried to regain some concentration, balance and sight. 

"I'll be honest..." Arnie laughed lightly, "I hit you really fucking hard with that brick. You've been out cold for almost an hour. I'm pretty confident that you have a gnarly concussion."

Winter couldn't think properly, but she was thinking she could have had a grade three or four concussion. 

"This would not be as fun if you have memory loss and have no idea why you're here," He groaned, "Do you know who you are?" 

Winter looked up at him with her dazed and confused eyes; "My name's Winter Callaghan." 

"Okay, good!" Arnie smiled. 

"Who is your boyfriend - or fiancé - or whatever the fuck it is you guys are?" 

She blinked, annoyed, "Henry Bowers." 

She was happy to know that she had no memory loss, but having to deal with Arnie while her brain was injured was not her ideal situation. 

"Good!" Arnie smiled again, "It's settled that this will be more fun for me that you know why I'm going to kill you." 

"I don't know why you want to kill me, though..." Winter said weakly, "Henry has said nothing but good things about you, even when you've killed so many people. He loves and cares for you as if you were apart of his family." 

"SHUT UP!" Arnie snapped and stepped closer to her; Winter stepped back unsteadily; "I don't need that mushy bullshit right now, you bitch!" 

Winter tightened her lips as Arnie held the knife up to her face. 

"Okay..." she said, trying to keep her tears in. She didn't know how to talk this kid down. 

Progressively, Arnie began to smile again, as he began to pace; "For the past two years, I've must have heard your name about five-thousand times! Every-FUCKING-day Henry would talk about memories with _'the love of my life, Winter'_ , or that he was going to find ' _the love of my life, Winter'_ , or that he could never see another woman like how he sees ' _the love of my life, Winter'_! IT'S ALWAYS WINTER, WINTER, WINTER!" Arnie stopped pacing, and looked at her psychotically, "I can't even fucking think of the season, winter, the same anymore with all the times that name has been POUNDED into my FUCKING eardrums!" 

Winter let out a tiny cry as she watched Arnie's psychotic episode. She realized that she was more afraid of him, at that moment, than she had ever been of Pennywise, even when she was trapped in the sewers with the monster for three days.

Arnie stared at her as a smile grew on his face again; "You know what I find interesting about you?" 

Winter didn't want to know with that facial expression growing on his face. 

He walked up closer to her; "Every single one of Bob Gray's Chosen Ones - Henry, Ace, even me - are very drawn to you..." He glided the blade through Winter's hair as he stared into her scared eyes; "They're drawn to your looks, your compassionate personality..." 

He looked down to her body as he ran the side of the cool blade from her chest, going over her breasts, to her stomach, over her vagina, and resting on her thigh. Winter started to shake, wondering what he was planning to do. All she could think about was when she was trapped in the sewers, and Ace's ghost showed up, and tried to rape her. 

_"It's been so long since I felt a nice wet pussy." Ace began to dry hump her as he held her tightly to the wall and putting his lips against her cheek._

_He smelled like sewage and death._

_"You're fucking sexy. I need my cock inside of you," his hand fell to her waist as he began unbuckling her belt._

_Winter breathed heavily with fear and mucus from being sick trapped in her lungs._

_"Oh, fuck! You're such a sexy girl!" Ace took off her belt. "I'm going to fuck your brains out and shred your pussy... It'll be my pussy when I'm done with it."_

_Winter took the knife she had in her hand and stabbed the man in the head with his own weapon._

"Ace has told me that you've had nightmares about him having sex with you..." Arnie smiled, "Would you believe that he created those nightmares for you so he could actually experience what it's like to fuck you?" He shrugged at his own question, "I guess a ghost wouldn't be able to properly fuck a living person, so he would do it through your nightmares." 

Tears ran down Winter's cheeks. 

"And then there's Henry, who's obsessively in love with you. It makes me wonder what I'm missing here... Do you have a magical pussy or something?" he grinned. 

Winter shook her head slowly as she cried, "Please, don't..." she said weakly. 

Arnie smirked as he listened to her plea. "There's something I need to do first, before I have my own fun before you die." 

Winter shook with fear as Arnie grabbed the bottom of her tank top and lifted it over her head. Since her hands were cuffed from behind, he just let the top rest on her arms as he looked up and down her body, leaving her in her jean shorts and black bra. 

"Please, don't..." Winter cried more, looking down. 

Arnie inhaled deeply, nearly making a moan, as he looked from her shoulders to her stomach. 

"Your body is fascinating," he said to himself as he traced all the scars with his fingers, "Its like you're a human canvas of all The Chosen Ones leaving their marks on you." 

Winter continued to look down as he continued on. 

He touched the individual scars on her chest to her shoulder; "These are from Henry, aren't they?" He feathered his fingers down to her stomach, "These claw marks are from Bob Gray himself... That's amazing..." He looked back up at her face; she looked at him tearfully, "And I know you have a scar from Ace's switchblade on your hand... It's amazing... Your whole body tells our stories." 

Winter shook her head weakly, "Henry's not like you guys."

Arnie snarled, "He could have been, but you had to get your little cunt-self in the way." He smiled at her, placing the tip of the blade on her ribcage; "Your canvas wouldn't be complete if I didn't leave my signature." 

Arnie dug the tip of the knife through her skin.

Winter began to scream and cry in pain. 

He traced the blade through her skin to make a number three inside of a circle; Symbolizing that he was the third Chosen One, and the circle represented that he was the Chosen One to end the cycle of the prophecy. 

Winter continued to cry at the burning of the fresh wound. 

Arnie smiled as he placed his hand on her neck, "Now, since you're a beautiful woman, I'm going to kill you in a beautiful way that doesn't leave such a mess... I could choke you..." he wondered to himself. "No..." He took his other hand and placed the cold knife on her heart, "You're a romantic, and you're in love with a Chosen One; You should die from a punctured broken heart. That would be the most poetic way for you to die." 

Winter couldn't stop shaking. This was going to be it. From the concussion and the fear, she could nearly feel herself about to pass out. 

Arnie put the point of the big blade on her chest, on top of where her heart was beating rapidly. 

He smiled at her face one last time, "Here we go!" 

He brought the knife over his shoulder so he could puncture the blade into her chest with as much force as he could. 

Winter closed her eyes tightly. 

A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. 

There was silence. 

She heard the knife Arnie was using drop to the concrete ground and his grip on her neck loosened. 

Winter opened her eyes back up. 

Arnie was punctured from his back with a knife that had barely came out from his stomach. It punctured his stomach enough that blood began to pour from his midsection. 

Winter kept scanning from the fear in his eyes to his punctured stomach, as he began to moan in pain. 

Arnie dropped to the floor and began to crawl slowly away. 

Winter looked up from Arnie's crawling body, and looked at Henry's worried eyes as he looked at her. 

She hyperventilated at the huge amount of relief it was to see him after everything that had happened since they got separated from the wave.

Henry stepped over to her, placing his hands on each side of her face; "Are you okay? Are you okay, baby?"

Winter nodded with his hands gently on her skin and his eyes staring into hers. "I think I might have a concussion, but I'm okay." 

Henry quickly looked down at the blood coming from her ribcage and wiped some blood with his hand to see what Arnie did. When he noticed the circle with the three carved into her skin, he shot his head to look at Arnie and quickly glared at him. 

Henry looked to the side of her head where she had been hit with the concrete brick. "Shit! I'll take you to the hospital when we leave, okay?" He sighed in relief as he pressed his forehead to hers, "I came just in time! Just in fucking time!" He closed his eyes tightly and breathed deeply, "Fuck... If I was a second later..." the thought panicked him.

Henry pressed his lips against hers and kissed her gently. 

Winter could feel her knees nearly buckling with his soft kiss filling her up with the feeling of safety and protection. 

When they separated, he gently helped get her tank top over her head and placed it over her cut. Then, he quickly looked to the handcuffs behind her back and he knew he would need the key. 

He walked over to Arnie, who was a few feet away and curling up in his own blood on the ground. Seeing Arnie made Henry's blood boil; "I WARNED YOU, MAN! I FUCKING WARNED YOU! WHERE'S THE KEY TO THE CUFFS?!" 

Weakly, Arnie put his hand in his jean pocket and pulled out the tiny key, "Here..." he said. 

Henry took the key and went back to Winter. 

He unlocked the cuffs. 

Winter wrapped her freed arms around Henry's shoulders and hugged him tightly. She pressed her forehead into the side of his neck, and said, "I thought he was going to kill me, Henry. I love you! I love you so much!" She kissed his jawline back to his lips. 

Henry put his hand to her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, thinking that he could have actually lost her; "You're my everything. You're the only thing in my life that keeps me waking up everyday. I can't lose you again." 

A little tear fell from Winter's eyelid as she stared into those piercing blue eyes. She nodded, "After this is all over, we can have a normal life finally."

Before they decided what to do next, Winter took a few puffs of her inhaler, as she desperately needed her medicine after everything with Arnie. 

"Hey, Henry?" 

Henry turned to look at Arnie curled up and shaking on the floor looking so weak as he continued to bleed out. 

"I think you're right..." he coughed a little bit, "The only way to get rid of the curse, is to kill it out of you..."

Henry tilted his head slightly and grabbed Winter's hand. With Winter a few steps behind Henry, they walked over to him. Once they were standing above his struggling body, Henry could see in his eyes that it was the Arnie he had taught how to build an engine and fix cars, the kid he would talk to about books and movies, and the guy who worked for him for two years. 

"Arnie?" 

Arnie coughed up some blood and looked at Winter; "I'm so sorry! I knew what was going on, but it was like Bob Gray's hold on me was controlling me too strongly... I could only watch what was going on and couldn't get back to normal... It was like a parasite took control of my body..." 

"It's... It's okay..." Winter said weakly, realizing that everything psychotic about Arnie was gone. He was just a normal seventeen year old kid. 

Henry acted quickly and sat beside Arnie, grabbing onto his hand.

"Hey, Arnie, just stay with me, okay, buddy?" Henry said, "We will get you out of here, get you to the hospital -- you can still work for me, and I will help you find a place to live, man." 

Winter blinked out a tear at Henry's caring interaction with Arnie. She knew by how much blood he had lost that he only had moments left, but Henry couldn't see that; Like how she couldn't see that there was no way in saving Georgie fifteen years ago. 

Arnie shook his head, "There's nothing left for me, Henry... I killed my own parents... The police are after me..."

Henry took a moment to look at Arnie before looking back up at Winter with stress in his eyes; "We can still save him, right?" he asked her for a professional opinion. 

Winter teared up more as she watched Arnie cough up more blood. Before she could say anything, Arnie said; "Henry, I hit her really bad on the side of the head. Make sure she gets to a hospital as soon as possible..." he smiled a little bit as he continued to struggle in pain, "You were right about her... She's a very beautiful woman." 

Winter slowly sat on the concrete ground beside Henry, as she could see that he was struggling to remain emotionally strong. 

Henry put his hand to his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He looked back at Arnie, and said, "I'm sorry It chose you. I wish there was something I could have done." 

"You did..." Arnie weakly said, "You put the knife in me..." he let out a tiny painful laugh, "As fucked up and messed up as that sounds." 

"Fuck..." Henry breathed out quietly, putting his hand back to cover his eyes. He knew he needed to do it, or else Arnie was going to kill Winter, but seeing Arnie come back to the surface as he was dying was just painful to watch. 

Winter grabbed onto Henry's hand and placed it on her lap, rubbing gently at his palm as she tried to stay strong for him. 

"Henry, there's no way you could have stopped me from buying that car... I should have listened to you, but there was no way I was going to..." Arnie coughed some more, "I meant what I said, though..." 

Tears ran down Henry's cheeks as he looked back at Arnie; "Said what?" 

"That sometimes I wish you were my dad..." he smiled weakly, letting out a little laugh.

Henry began to let his tears out. He looked at Arnie like the younger version of himself, and he wanted to teach him everything he could about cars like his dad did. 

Getting progressively weaker, Arnie said, "You would make such... a cool..." 

_...dad._

Arnie's body stopped struggling and his face fell blank. His eyes stared up to the ceiling as he continued to bleed out. 

He was gone. 

Henry looked at his lifeless body and began to cry. He cried like when his uncles and dad died, but this time, it hit him a little different. 

Winter's tears ran down her cheeks over Henry's pain. She sat closer to him and hugged him as tight as she could. 

"He was such a good kid!" Henry cried, and repeated in emotional pain, "He was such a good kid!" 

"I know, baby..." Winter sniffled, "I wish I got to know him - the real him." 

Henry wrapped his arms around her midsection and placed his head to her chest as he looked at Arnie laying on the ground. Winter had never seen Henry release his pain and hurt like this before. Arnie's death touched him in a different way than any other death he's experienced. 

"He was so much like me!" he cried, "That could have fucking been me! If I took the balloon as a kid, or if I did what Pennywise wanted me to do when I was a teenager! I was mad at my parents at the time, but I don't think I could have ever came to thinking of killing them like how he did!" 

"But you and Arnie didn't go through the same circumstances, Henry..." she sniffled, "You didn't take the balloon, and you didn't allow yourself to fall for Its tricks, and even though you were mad at your parents, you always loved and respected your family very much." 

Henry looked up to her face and put his palm on her cheek, "If I never had you in my life, I would have been like how Arnie turned, or like Ace. I'm so lucky to have you in my life." 

Winter placed her palm on Henry's other cheek and wiped away his tears, "And Arnie was lucky to have you, Henry... You knew what he was going through, and you tried your best to help him. But, it's like you told me, right?" She looked deeply into his hurt eyes, "Sometimes it's going to be too late, and you'll have to know when to walk away and accept that there is nothing else you could have done, because you already did all that you could."

Henry stared lovingly into Winter's eyes, and then he put his lips onto hers and kissed her deeply. 

Henry kept his forehead onto hers and kept his thumb stroking her cheek; "I wish Arnie could have had someone like you in his life. You've saved me so many times from myself, starting from when I was just a little kid." He sighed as he felt relaxed in her arms, "I'm sorry I didn't find you earlier, before he hurt you. If he had killed you, I would have fallen apart." 

Winter put her lips back on his, and kissed him. 

She looked back into his eyes, and whispered, "You're the strongest person I know... You're my hero." 

Henry continued to keep his forehead to hers and looked down to her lap, feeling himself calming down from the heartache of Arnie dying, and almost witnessing Winter die. He didn't want to leave her arms and the safe space around her. 

After a couple of minutes of silence, so they could both calm down over the traumas that had been happening around them, and giving a moment of silence for Arnie, Winter spoke up, "We need to find the others, babe." 

Henry nodded quietly. He looked from her lap to her eyes, "This time, I'm going to kill It with them. Last time, I told them to finish It off after I restrained It, but after the shit It's put me, you and Arnie through, I'm going to rip Its heart out." 

Fearful of what was going to happen next, Winter softly said, "Let's do this." 


	44. Part 44: Destroying The Turtle Effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

"WHERE IS EVERYBODY?! I WANT TO PLAY!" 

After The Ritual of Chud was unsuccessful, Richie, Eddie, Bill, Bev, Ben and Mike were caught around in the sewer caves, running for their lives as Pennywise grew to a scorpion-spider-like creature that went as high up as the ceiling. 

No one knew what to do, and they were all turning to Mike who also didn't know what to do. They all wondered, if Henry were there, would he even know what to do with this monster chasing them with ten-foot razor sharp claws on each of Its eight arms?

Eddie and Richie were hiding behind a wall together, trying to keep as low as possible from Pennywise. 

"Where the fuck is Henry and Winter?!" Eddie said to Richie as he was beginning to grow more and more paranoid by the minute that passed that Winter wasn't in eye-view. 

"I don't know, dude, but I really want to get the fuck out of here!" Richie said. 

Bill and Mike were underneath a pillar of cement, trying to hide from the monster, as well. 

"Wh-what the Hell do we do, M-M-M-Mike?!" Bill asked as sweat poured down his face. 

"I don't know!" Mike was losing his control and it showed that he really had no idea what to do next; "It was supposed to work!" 

"Well, it d-d-didn't! And now we ne-need a new plan!" 

"We need to get over to Richie and Eddie!" Mike said, "Henry said that we can't let anything happen to Eddie." He looked seriously at Bill, "He told you everything the turtle showed him, right?" 

Bill nodded before looking over to Richie and Eddie at the other side of the sewer, "Fuck!" he exasperated at the distance it would take to run over. 

At this point, Bev and Ben were trapped in their own black holes in the sewers. 

"ALL OF YOU CAME INTO MY HOME!" Pennywise's voice echoed, "THIS IS STARTING TO RUN AT MY PATIENCE!" 

Bill and Mike looked into each others eyes. They knew it was now or never to run over to the other two. 

"You ready?" Mike asked. 

They both poked their heads out from the pillar they were under and saw Pennywise looking in the opposite direction. 

"N-Now!" Bill said. 

Mike and Bill both went running as fast as they could across the big cave. 

"UH OH!" Pennywise exclaimed before smashing one of Its claws to the ground in front of them. 

Mike and Bill both dodged it and continued to run. 

"What are they doing?!" Richie asked, "Why are they bringing the clowns attention to where we are?!" 

"Fuck!" Eddie put his hand over his face feeling scared and annoyed, "Where the fuck is Henry and Winter?!" 

Movement to the far left of the room caught Richie's attention. He saw two faces poke out from a tunnel to see what was going on. 

"Oh!" Richie said, "There they are!" 

Eddie took his hands away from his face and looked towards Winter and Henry who were looking to see what they were up against. 

"Holy shit!" Henry exclaimed, as he looked at the three dead lights that seemed to be the energy source to Pennywise's real form. 

Winter closed her eyes tightly and put her hand over her eyes; Her concussion couldn't handle the bright lights coming off of Pennywise. 

Eddie watched Henry and Winter; He was looking at Winter, as he asked Richie, "What the fuck happened to her!? She wasn't hurt like that when I last saw her!" 

"How the fuck would I know?!" Richie exclaimed, "I've been with you!" 

With a lot of struggle, Mike and Bill made it into the cave that Richie and Eddie were hiding. They both pushed them back so Pennywise wouldn't see them. 

"Guys! Guys!" Richie shouted, trying to get Mike and Bill's attention so they wouldn't be trying to go too far into the cave. "Henry and Winter are right there!"

Richie was too loud, though, and Pennywise heard him. 

Pennywise turned Its head toward the cave Henry and Winter were standing. 

Henry and Winter stood very still as Its big head had turned Its attention towards them. 

It let out a growl, "How come all the people I choose to kill all of you end up not doing their job?!" 

Keeping his eyes on Pennywise, Henry grabbed onto Winter's hand, "We got to run, babe!" 

Winter took her hand away from her face and was looking into Pennywise's big yellow eyes. 

"WE GOT TO RUN!" Henry yelled. 

He pulled at Winter as they both began running while Pennywise watched them, trying to get to another side of the cave. 

Rocks and cement flew as It ran behind the two of them.

Bill, Mike, Richie and Eddie watched with fear as they saw Winter and Henry running towards the other side of the cave. They could all see that Winter was struggling with her hand to her bleeding head, but she was still trying to run as fast as she could. 

"SHE'S IN FUCKING PAIN, GUYS!" Eddie exclaimed. He grabbed a chunk of cement and threw it with all his force towards Pennywise's head. 

Pennywise stopped running and turned towards where the cement came from as Henry and Winter found safety in another cave. 

"Oh, sh-shit!" Bill stuttered as Its eyes stared over at them. 

Ben and Bev appeared at another cave and watched as Pennywise was looking at the four others in the cave a few feet besides them. 

"YOU WANNA PLAY, EDDIE?!" Pennywise asked Eddie. 

When Henry heard Pennywise talking to the others, he quickly turned to Winter; "Are you okay?!" 

Winter sighed, "I can't fucking see anything with those lights." 

Henry quickly looked towards the open wound on her head, "You stay inside this small cave, okay? I'm going to help the others and kill this thing!" 

Winter looked at Henry and fear filled up her stomach, "I can't lose you, Henry!" 

"I'll do my best to be careful," he reassured her. 

Reluctantly, Winter nodded. 

Henry softly kissed her on the lips before he went running out towards the open area of the cave. 

"Fuck..." Bev said to Ben, "What's Henry doing?" 

Henry threw a rock at Pennywise to get Its attention. 

Pennywise turned to Henry and glared at him. 

"YOU STILL PISSED OFF THAT I NEVER DID WHAT YOU WANTED ME TO DO WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER?!" he yelled at him. 

"YOU'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE, HENRY!" Pennywise said. 

"He sure is!" Richie laughed from the cave, "I'm going to help Henry!" 

Richie ran over towards Henry, and he smacked him on the shoulder when he went to his side, "You've saved my life a bunch of times, now let's get this fucker together!" 

Ben and Bev looked at each other and didn't want Henry and Richie to be on their own, so they ran over to the two of them. All four of them stared up at Pennywise as It measured them all up. 

"YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT!" Richie shouted at It and threw a rock. 

From the cave, Eddie looked at Bill and Mike, "I'm going to check on Winter!" 

Before he could run out, Bill and Mike stopped him. 

Eddie looked at them, annoyed, "What the fuck, guys?! MOVE!" 

"No, Eddie!" Mike said sternly. 

"Y-Y-You need to stay low," Bill said. 

Eddie twisted his head at Bill. Henry had said the same thing to him when he ran into him in the tunnel, and Eddie began to become mad; All three of them knew something that he didn't. 

"You both know something..." He looked at them one at a time; "What the fuck did Henry tell you about my fucking future?!" Eddie exploded, "What the fuck does Henry already know that I'm not supposed to?!" 

Bill and Mike exchanged looks quickly before looking back at Eddie. 

"This is really starting to piss me off! It's my future, I should fucking know what's going to happen to me!" He got up close to their faces, "Is he protecting me, because he saw that I'm going to end up with Winter in the future?! The time-lines are crossed, and once we get the fuck out of here today, Winter and me are going to forget the whole relationship we had ever happened, because it hasn't happened yet?!" 

Again, Mike and Bill looked at each other, as if they were communicating with their glances. 

"If that's the fucking case, then why wouldn't Henry want me dead?! Why would he be protecting me?! Or is that what's going to happen -- I'm going to die?!"

Mike sighed and needed Eddie to calm down; "You just need to stay low." 

As Henry, Ben, Bev and Richie were talking smack to Pennywise, notably making him appear smaller, Winter noticed a light shinning around the corner from her. She squinted as she looked over; It was the turtle. 

"Shit!" she exclaimed to herself. She didn't know if it was the turtle's natural glow that was making It shine brightly or if it was her concussion, but she knew she needed to get It. 

Slowly, Winter made her way out of the cave. She glanced at the turtle and would glance over at Pennywise being talked down by the others. 

Eddie looked out towards Winter walking out towards the cave, and his chest began to seize up as she walked out in the danger of these sewer caves, "What -- What the fuck is she doing?!" 

Bill and Mike turned towards where Eddie was looking in fear. 

"Sh-She found the tur-tle," Bill said. 

Winter picked up the turtle and held It in her hands, wanting to take It back to safety. 

As she slowly turned back to walk to the safety of the small cave, a claw banged on the ground right in front of her. 

Winter fell back. She quickly turned to see what was behind her, and she noticed a pillar she could hide under. She quickly scooted her way underneath the small rock. 

Henry saw Winter going under the pillar and catching Pennywise's attention. First Henry tried to run over to her and take her back to safety, but Pennywise put Its claws in front of him, making a wall that he couldn't escape. 

"FUCK!" Henry yelled. He quickly ran up to the monster and began throwing rocks at Its deadlights, which noticeably was making It weaker every time Henry flicked at a light. 

Bev, Ben and Richie began to do the same thing as Henry.

"I GOT TO GO HELP HER!" Eddie yelled, trying to get out of Mike's grip. "LET ME GO HELP HER!" 

Bill looked from Eddie's scared expression in his eyes to Winter's trembling body under the pillar. Without another thought, Bill ran out as fast as he could towards Winter. 

As he ran, he blocked his head with his arms as rocks began to fly everywhere while Pennywise was trying to get him with one of Its claws. 

Bill quickly got a hold of Winter, grabbing her arm and helping her up. They both ran to one of the small caves. 

"Y-You gotta st-stay in here," Bill said to Winter as he tried to catch his breath; "Y-You're hu-hurt."

Winter nodded, hugging onto the calming energy of the turtle. 

"YOU'RE A CRUSTY SLOPPY BITCH, MOTHER FUCKER!" Richie yelled at Pennywise before throwing another rock. 

Pennywise opened Its mouth, catching Richie in the deadlights. Noticing Eddie and Mike hanging low in the cave, Pennywise whipped one of Its claws and pushed Mike out of the way, leaving the cave entrance open for Eddie to get out.

The first thought Eddie had was to go to Winter and make sure she was okay on her own.

Eddie ran out from the cave as fast as he could in the direction where Winter was. 

Pennywise's eyes went straight to Eddie running. 

This was all starting to look too familiar to Henry when he saw Pennywise's eyes stare off to where Eddie was running, as Richie was floating up towards the ceiling into Its deadlights. This was the moment that Henry was most afraid of. 

For Henry, time slowed down as he saw this all happen before in a vision from the turtle. The turtle had shown him two alternative endings to Pennywise's life; One was Eddie lived, which created a joyful life for him and Winter, and had also resulted in Winter being safe after Henry had passed on. Or, the second ending, was Eddie died from Pennywise putting Its claw through his intestines, which would result in Winter and Henry's life not being as fulfilled due to the loss of a close friend; And when Henry was to pass in the future, Winter would take away her own life a few months later, because there was no one there to take her out of the darkness of losing the love of her life, leaving their grown kids without their dad or their mom.

Eddie continued to run across the cave towards where Winter was hiding out. When he was nearly there, he got distracted by the clown saying, "HEY, EDZ!" 

When Eddie turned towards the voice, Pennywise lifted a claw and threw it towards him. 

"EDDIE!" screamed Bill, Bev and Mike.

Richie dropped to the ground; The clown turning off Its deadlights so It could focus on Eddie.

Winter looked up from the dark ground where she was hiding with the turtle; She looked up when she heard everyone yell Eddie's name. Her chest seized up, and she said quietly, "Edz?" as tears began to form in her eyes from the panic in all their voices. She got up to her feet, unsteadily, and wanted to go see what was going on. 

As Winter stood there with uncertainty of what happened, Eddie's fifteen-year-old voice and her seventeen-year-old voice flashed in her memory as panic caused her to nearly pass out:

_"Winter! Winter, it's your friend, Edz!" Eddie said his name the way only Winter says it as Jim Hopper held her weak body in his arms from being in the sewers for three days._

_Weakly, she mumbled very quietly that only Eddie heard her, "Edz?"_

_"You're going to be okay!" he said to her, although she didn't look like she understood him._

The next flashback was when they were about to go into the sewers for the first time as a group, after Winter had plastic wrapped Eddie's arm:

_"Thank you for teaching me that I can take the lead. I never thought I could with my mom or my friends always telling me what to do, but when it's just you and me, I feel like a real man. I just really wanted you to know that," he hugged her even tighter.  
_

_She said seriously, "You are a man, Edz."_

Then, the last memory that came to her, was Edz and her talking in the clubhouse over a month ago, when he asked her a hypothetical question:

_"Let's say you are ready to move on from Henry, and I never married Myra, she was not apart of my life... So, if these two distractions in our lives did not exist, and we were in a relationship after we bumped into each other at the hospital; If I decided, in this moment, to get down on my knee and ask you to marry me, would you say yes?"  
_

_"And, this is hypothetical? I'm completely over Henry, and you are not married?" She clarified._

_"Totally hypothetical! We are totally dumping our baggage in this hypothetical scenario. There is no baggage and no distractions."_

_Winter looked at him after taking some time to carefully think of the scenario he created, "Yeah... Yeah, I would."  
_

"EDDIE!" Richie yelled at the scene that had just happened in front of everyone.

In Eddie's perspective, when the claw went towards him, he felt himself being thrown very forcibly to the ground. 

When Eddie looked up, he saw Henry on top of him. 

"Henry?" Eddie said in disbelief to him throwing him to the ground. 

Henry quickly got back up to his feet with trouble. The claw had sliced the front of his thigh when it went to attack Eddie. He quickly looked down at Eddie as the others came running to his aid. Eddie still wasn't unharmed, though, as the claw had sliced through the side of his lower stomach just before it had sliced Henry's thigh. 

"GRAB HIM!" Henry instructed Mike as he grabbed under his arms.

Mike grabbed his legs, and they quickly walked him to the cave where Winter was hiding out. 

When Winter saw the whole group coming in the cave, she became still as she noticed Henry and Mike carrying Eddie's body. 

"WINTER?!" Henry called for her. When he saw her staring from behind them, he looked very seriously at her, like her own life depended on these next couple of questions; "Do you have your medical bag? Are you able to look after him while we kill It?" 

Winter's mind and chest seized up as she watched Eddie bleeding from his side. She watched them, with her eyes wide in shock, as they laid him down on the ground. 

"Winter?!" Henry said more seriously, trying to get her out of the shock of seeing Eddie hurt. 

Winter blinked and nodded, "Yeah!" She quickly got down to her knees and lifted his shirt to see the damage; "What the Hell happened?!" 

"A claw sliced his side," Richie said as he sat on the floor by Winter and Eddie, shinning his flashlight on the wound so Winter could fix it. 

Winter slightly and gently opened his wound up to see how deep it went. She inhaled deeply as she began digging through her medical bag; "This is not just a slice, guys." 

"Fuck!" Richie put his hand to his head. 

Winter quickly looked at Henry's slice on his leg; "How about you?" 

Henry looked concerned at Eddie's weakening body, and then he looked to Winter; "I'm fine." As he watched Eddie, he became really scared for Winter's future, "Just look after him." 

"Pennywise was becoming weaker when we were belittling It," Bev said. 

"Let's finish this!" Ben exclaimed. 

Richie looked over to the group, "I'm going to be Winter's light, guys." He continued to shine the flashlight on Eddie's large wound. 

Mike nodded to Richie, "Okay!" 

"L-Let's finish this th-thing!" Bill said. 

As they all ran out towards where Pennywise was, Winter yelled, "BE CAREFUL!" 

Richie was becoming nervous as he watched Winter trying to look after Eddie; "Is he going to be okay, Winter?" 

She didn't want to hear questions like that. She was going to do all she could to make sure he was going to be okay. 

"Can you shine the light closer?" Winter asked, ignoring Richie's question. 

Even though she needed more light, the shine from the flashlight pounded at her head. She reminded herself, though, that she was a nurse who was studying to be a doctor, and she could put aside her problems to work on Eddie. 

Eddie's head weakly lolled over to her; "Hey... I was trying to find you." 

Winter, trying to remain calm for him as she went through her medical bag, said, "Well, you found me." 

As time continued to pass by while Winter was looking after Eddie, the three of them could hear the others yelling names at Pennywise. From where Richie, Eddie and Winter were, it sounded like it was working. 

As Eddie began to become weaker, he continued to talk; "Bill and Mike were trying to keep me away from you." 

Winter was half listening and half trying to concentrate on his wound; "Really? Why was that?" 

"Because they know, that I know, what them and Henry knows..." Eddie said weakly. 

Richie and Winter both thought Eddie was talking gibberish from the pain and the trauma. 

Eddie continued on, "I would tell you what I know, but I need to keep it to myself." 

"Why is that?" Winter asked, wanting him to keep talking so she knew he was okay. 

"Because it gives me hope for the future."

"What the fuck is he even talking about?!" Richie asked, annoyed and scared that he couldn't do anything else other than flash the light. 

"I don't know, Richie," Winter said, trying to stop the bleeding. 

Winter took her surgical gloves to get a better look to see how much deeper his cut went. "This might hurt a little bit, Edz. I'm sorry if it does." She looked deeper into the cut, as he inhaled deeply. 

"Can't you just stitch him back up like you did to his cheek yesterday?" Richie asked. 

"I can't!" Winter exclaimed, "There's something punctured! If I stitch him up, he's going to be bleeding on the inside." 

"Then stitch up whatever is cut on the inside!" 

Winter groaned, annoyed by Richie's instructions; "Richie, we're in the sewers! This type of stitches is like surgery!" 

"It's not even the cut on my skin that hurts..." Eddie said weakly. 

"What do you feel, Edz?" Winter asked, listening carefully. 

Weakly, he replied, "There's a pressure... It kind of feels like the pressure when I was a kid and my appendix needed to come out... I mostly feel it in my back, though..."

Winter breathed deeply as she began to feel panic in her stomach. She calmly turned to Richie, "Richie, go get the others right now." 

Richie looked at her, "Why? What if they're not done killing Pennywise?!" 

Panic started to sound in Winter's tone; "I don't care if they killed that thing or not, Edz needs to go to the hospital right now!" 

Richie gulped in fear, "Why? What's going on?" 

"It sounds like his kidney is severely injured, and he needs to have it taken out ASAP before it causes a blood clot!" Winter told him. "Go get them!" 

"Why can't you just do it here?!" Richie became very concerned. "You're studying to be a doctor, just do it!"

"RICHIE!" Winter snapped, "I have a concussion, I have never performed surgery before, and this is not something that can be done in the middle of the sewers! GO GET THEM NOW!" 

Richie could see the fear in her eyes, and he did as he was told. 

Winter turned back to Eddie. She put her hand gently to his cheek and tapped it lightly, "Hey, Edz. I need you to stay alert, okay?" A tear drop was ready to drop form her eyes. 

"Winter..." he began weakly, "I don't like it when I see you cry..." 

Winter could almost hear him as a fifteen-year-old when he said that to her, causing her to tear up a bit more. 

"I know, but I want you to be okay." 

She tore off her sweater that was tied around her waist and held it to his wound to control the bleeding. 

"I keep ruining your sweaters with my blood..." Eddie said. 

Winter let out a tiny laugh under her breath, "It's okay." When she looked over towards the cave entrance, waiting for the others to come, she saw the turtle glowing in the light. She had nearly forgotten about It. 

When the turtle came nearer, she picked It up and placed it close to Eddie; "If this thing is magical, hopefully It can help." 

As the turtle glowed, she looked over to Eddie's wound; The blood that was pouring out was going back inside of him. The turtle was reversing the flow of the blood and healing him. 

Winter cried out happy tears, "Thank God." 

_"Trust me, Eddie..."_

Eddie was staring at the turtle, and he said weakly, "The turtle's talking to me..."

Winter looked from his face towards the turtle, "What?" she said in disbelief. 

"It's talking to..." Eddie's eyes closed, and all he could see was a bright white light, and all he could hear was the turtle.

He was unconscious. 

"Edz!?" Winter began to panic. She hit his cheek gently, "EDDIE?!" 

She checked for his heartbeat, but couldn't hear anything. 

She checked to see if there was any air coming from in-between his lips, but there was nothing. 

"No! No! No!" she panicked. 

Right away, Winter began performing CPR on him. 

When Richie went to go get the others, they were in the middle of the rupture where Pennywise landed on the earth millions of years ago. 

Pennywise was dead, and they were all holding Its heart in their hands, squeezing the life out of It. 

"Oh, score!" Richie exclaimed. 

They all turned to him. 

"Guys, we need to go right now! Winter says Eddie needs surgery 'cause his kidney is going to 'cause blood clots!" Richie announced. 

"Shit!" Henry began running towards where Winter and Eddie were. 

The rest of them followed close behind him. 

When they arrived to the two of them, Winter was in the middle of giving Eddie CPR. 

All of their throats fell into their stomach when they saw Eddie laying there, lifeless, with Winter trying to revive him with tears in her eyes. They all kneeled around them, giving Winter enough room to give him CPR. The only one left standing was Henry, who's heart was nearly beating out of his chest. 

"COME ON, EDZ!" Winter yelled, as she tried to revive him for the eighth time. 

Henry began to pace back and forth, feeling the anxiety hitting his gut like a ton of bricks. He looked over to the turtle that was in front of Winter and Eddie; It was glowing, and slowly the glow was starting to disappear. He wondered if his turtle was slowly dying.

Crying and panicking, Winter cried; "He should be breathing! It's his kidney, and he hasn't lost that much blood! He should be breathing!" She put her lips back over his mouth and began breathing again into his mouth. 

Bev, Bill, Mike, Ben and Richie all looked at each other with tears in their eyes. 

Henry continued to look down the cave, trying to keep himself together as Winter kept trying. 

Winter's chest presses were beginning to become aggressively harder as she began to panic more. She interlocked her fingers together and put her palms together; She began punching his chest as hard as she could. 

"Wi-Winter, you ne-need to st-stop," Bill said, crying more, as he was watching her smash the side of her hands to his heart. 

"No, guys! No!" Richie said, "Winter knows what to do! She can do it!" 

For the eleventh time, Winter put her lips over Eddie's mouth and breathed into his mouth. 

Bev couldn't hold back her tears watching Winter crying and still trying. 

"He's gone, Winter." She turned to Richie, "He's gone." 

"NO, HE'S NOT! HIS KIDNEY WOULDN'T CAUSE THIS!" Winter cried, and began pounding on his chest again with everything that she had. 

"But, it did..." Ben cried. 

"HE'S STILL ALIVE, GUYS! WINTER KNOWS HE IS!" Richie protested.

"Winter, you need to stop!" Mike cried. None of them could cope seeing her pounding the side of her hands to his chest, punching him as hard as she could to restart his heart. 

Henry punched the wall as hard as he could. He felt like him, Winter and Eddie lost everything. 

Winter collapsed on top of Eddie's chest, winded by all the resuscitating and from putting all her energy in trying to restart his heart. 

Henry went behind her and held her back from his body; "He's dead, Winter. You did all you could, and now you need to walk away." 

Winter continued to cry, as well as the group, as they looked at Eddie's lifeless body. For Winter, it was the worse pain she had ever experienced in her life; This was a man she had a relationship with for four months, and a friendship for fifteen years. He took her out of her darkness when she thought she lost Henry forever. 

As she stared at Eddie, Mr. Hopper's voice went through her head. Although, what he told her when she was sixteen was to encourage her to go on stage and sing as confidently as she could, she felt like it applied to this situation:

_"Once you're on stage, singing, you're the boss."_

She was the Nurse Practitioner, she was trying to save her friend, and no one can make the judgement call that he's dead other than her -- she was the boss in this situation. 

"No!" Winter shook her head, "I lost one person under my watch --" Georgie "-- I'm not losing Edz! I refuse to stop trying!" 

She quickly went back over to his body, which caused the rest of the gang to start to cry more knowing that they would be watching Winter beat Eddie's chest some more. 

As she kneeled above Eddie's body, she interlocked all her fingers again, put her arms above her head, and with all the energy she had left, she punched with the sides of her balled up hands on Eddie's chest above his heart, making the sound of the impact loud with a big thud. 

Eddie's eyes popped open and he inhaled sharply. 

Everyone's hearts pounded when they saw Eddie come to. 

Henry looked to Eddie, and he put his hand to his own heart in relief. 

Winter shook with happiness that her hands were trembling. 

Richie went close to Eddie and gave him a big hug. He looked at everyone, "I told you Winter could do it!" 

"Winter?" Eddie put his hand to Winter's arm. He looked at everyone, "Guys? What happened?"

"We need to get him to the hospital!" Henry said. 


	45. Part 45: The Last Black Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a side note: I totally imagine the future Eddie Kaspbrak to be like James Ransone himself. LOL! Enjoy!
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

"He looks like he's coming to again!" Ben said from the backseat of Henry's pick-up truck.

Ben, Bev and Mike were sitting in the back seat, while Bill was in the passenger seat and Henry was driving. Winter and Richie both were looking after Eddie as he laid in the cargo. He was falling in and out of consciousness.

Henry was driving as fast as he could to Derry General.

"Edz?!" Winter tapped lightly at his cheek, "Edz, can you hear me?!"

Eddie opened his eyes slowly, and he immediately looked at Winter.

Winter noticed his gaze at her was different; It was softer, full of admiration, love and happiness. He had no stress or pain in his expression, which was different for Eddie who always looked stressed and tense about something.

Relieved to see her, Eddie smiled and put his hand to her cheek; "Hey, Sweetie..." he said lovingly, "Oh, my God! What a crazy dream!" He rubbed his thumb against her cheekbone, "How did you sleep?" 

Richie twisted his face, "' _Sweetie?'_ Is he okay?"

Eddie turned his head towards Richie, "Yo, man! Are we talking again? Is your crazy mid-life crisis over?" He was speaking so loudly and confidently, like a whole new Eddie.

Richie looked over to Winter, "What the fuck is wrong with him? Why the Hell is he talking like that? Mid-life crisis?"

Winter was wondering that herself. Thinking out-loud, she said, "I think he just came out of a state of shock!" She gently rubbed at the top of his head, bringing his attention back to her, "Edz? Are you okay?"

"Absolutely!" Eddie smiled brightly at her, showing his slightly chipped front tooth that he's had all his adulthood, and he was showing it off confidently. His dimples and laugh lines were showing on his face. Also, every time he grinned widely or laughed, his eyes would squint in an adorable and charming way. He took one of her hands and placed it on-top of his chest as he rubbed the top of her hand.

Richie looked at Winter again, "And I thought you were the one who had a concussion..."

Winter couldn't help but smile at the new grin on his face that shined so confidently, "What's going on, Edz?"

He sighed happily as he looked into her eyes and continued to rub her cheek, "I just think you're beau--" Then he noticed the cut on the side of her head, and he stopped rubbing her cheekbone; "Oh, shit! Am I still dreaming? What year is it?"

"2012..." Richie and Winter answered together, questionably, at his behaviour.

Eddie let out a big laugh before putting both his hands to his face and laughed loudly into them.

Richie and Winter looked at each other in question; They've never seen him act so confident and loud before -- Even his laugh was different; It was loud and very happy. _He_ was very happy. His laugh was even contagious.

Eddie removed his hands from his face; Still smiling, exclaimed a big, "HOLY SHIT! What a fucking trip!"

If Winter wasn't so stressed out about Eddie's condition, she would have giggled at his new charming confidence and positivity. She didn't think he knew that he was severely injured. Something had to have happened to him when she brought him back to life.

Eddie removed his hands from his face and looked at Winter admirably, "This is when I died..." he said to himself. He said to Winter, "This is so crazy! You look the exact same as you do now, except you don't have that cut on your head!" He turned to Richie and started smacking his leg with excitement; "HOLY SHIT, BRO! IS THIS WHEN WE KILLED THE CLOWN?!"

"Ugh! Ow!" Richie moved further away, "Why the Hell are you calling me 'Bro', Bro?" He looked at Winter, "Toto, I don't think Eddie's in Kansas anymore..." Richie joked in a serious tone; There was something about this side of Eddie that he wasn't very fond of, and he didn't know why.

Henry was watching everything happening in his cargo through his rear-view mirror, and he recognized the new confident personality that Eddie was displaying. This wasn't thirty-year-old Eddie; This was Eddie in the future. He knew this was because of the turtle. If that was the case, Eddie would be turning back to his thirty-year-old personality soon, but he worried what he was going to tell Winter and Richie with his future-self taking over; "Shit! What's he doing?! Mike can you check?!"

"He's b-b-being really loud..." Bill said.

Bev and Ben were watching Eddie's facial expressions and how his laugh had changed. His tense and stressed personality changed to confidence and charming.

Bev let out a tiny laugh, "He looks so happy and confident."

Henry knew this had to have been the turtle. He looked over to Bill, "The turtle did this. He better not tell Winter anything that happens."

Mike rolled open the sun-roof and poked his head out; "Is he okay?!"

"Well, that's a loaded question right now..." Richie mumbled to himself.

Eddie looked up to Mike, and his face dropped and some fear took over; "Oh, shit... We're at this part of my life..."

Winter yelled back to Mike, "He's just in a state of shock!" Then she said quietly to herself, "I think..."

Eddie turned back to Winter and put his hand back on her cheek, "Winter, you saved my life!" He looked at her seriously, "Did you hear Mr. Hopper telling you that you're the boss in your head? Because, I heard it, too!"

Winter's eyes went wide in shock and her lips parted open.

"It wasn't you that thought the voice up! It was the turtle! The turtle made you remember that to bring me back!" He smiled a big grin at her; "But, when we get to the hospital, remember that! Remember that you're the boss! Don't let anyone there tell you otherwise, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Winter asked, still in shock by what he was saying.

Eddie softly sighed happily and peacefully at her; Just the beauty in her face made him happy, "When we get to the hospital, it can go one of two ways, but I can't give you details. Follow what your heart tells you. Please follow your heart and be the boss lady that you are..." He continued to confidently stroke her cheek, as he smiled at her lovingly, "Don't let me die again, Winter... I'm safe in your hands, and you're going to be safe in my hands one day... Just don't let me die."

Henry continued to watch through his rear-view mirror; He wasn't upset with how touchy-feely with Winter Eddie was, but he was scared that he was telling her too much, "What is he telling her?!"

Mike continued to listen to the conversation, and then turned to Henry, "No details. He's just prepping her about something."

Although Henry knew a lot about the future, he didn't know everything about Eddie's future. So, whatever future Eddie was telling her, was only about himself.

Winter began to tear up, not understanding what he was talking about, and the mention of him dying scared her. She put her hand on-top of his hand that was on her cheek; "What are you talking about, Edz?"

Although he didn't like seeing her cry, he continued to smile peacefully at her, "Just follow your heart and you'll know."

Richie watched Eddie smiling that new smile and gaze at Winter, and he didn't know why he didn't like this new-found confidence and charm Eddie was displaying. The feeling was confusing Richie, because he could tell how happy Eddie was, and he was happy to see his friend happy, but there was something he just didn't like.

Henry pulled up to the entrance of Derry General. He parked the truck and got out, followed by Bill, Ben, Bev and Mike. Richie jumped out of the cargo, leaving Winter and Eddie there to wait for someone to get Eddie.

"Do you trust me?" Eddie asked her.

Winter nodded, "More than anything." She wondered out-loud, "Why are you so charming all of a sudden? Not that you weren't before, but..." she tried to think of her words carefully, "...This is different."

Eddie smiled softly at her, "I have your husband to thank for that, and you, too."

Winter stared at him confused, "What? Henry? Me? My husband?"

"Yeah... The best friends I could ever have." He smiled at her confused expression, "You'll forget this conversation ever happened, but you'll see one day." Then he said to her, "But you can't let me die in there. I'm safe in your hands. Remember that. I trust you with all my heart, Sweetie--" He winced at his own words, "Shit! I mean Winter!"

Hospital staff came to the cargo of Henry's truck. Winter watched them put Eddie on the hospital gurney, as she wondered what the whole conversation during the trip with Eddie was about.

Henry went over to Winter and grabbed her hands so she could safely jump down from the cargo. As they walked into the hospital, he asked her, "What did he tell you?"

Winter answered, as she processed the whole conversation in her mind, "That I need to follow my heart and be the boss while he's in here."

Henry was dumbstruck at that. He didn't know what Eddie could have mean't. He couldn't stop wondering if thirty-year-old Eddie was still riding on the turtle's shell, and that's what made the switch.

As they walked in, Winter followed Eddie in the gurney, leaving the others to check in at triage. They needed to check in Eddie, Winter and Henry, who were the only ones who were hurt.

As she walked with them, she said to the people wheeling him; "He was in an accident, and I think his kidney is severely injured! He will need an Xray! His heart stopped, and I resuscitated him, but he won't be able to go through that again and survive! He needs to go into surgery right now!"

As she walked away with the hospital workers, Henry called over to her; "Winter, you're hurt! You need to be checked!"

Winter was too preoccupied with giving the hospital workers the details, that she didn't hear Henry as she walked through the emergency doors with them wheeling Eddie.

Henry turned to Bill, Bev, Mike and Ben as he softly smiled at Winter's caring personality. She always put other peoples problems before her own; "I'm gonna go find her. Just wait here."

Winter was standing outside the surgical room with Eddie laying on the gurney, as the hospital workers began to get the Xray machine and the surgical instruments in the room sterilized and ready.

She looked over to Eddie, who was looking like he wasn't in any pain, as he continued to talk about something that happened to him, that she never remembered happening to him.

"Did Henry ever tell you about that time at the store with Bill, Richie, Henry, Kyle and me when these little teenage kids came in, and I was playing a game of Magic the Gathering with Kyle..." he bursted out in a laughter fit mid-way through the story; Winter had no idea what he was talking about, but she wanted to laugh with him as his contagious laughter was so refreshing and charming. His voice went high as he continued to try to keep in his laughter from exploding out, "And these kids came in, and they were like the spitting image of all of us in high school! It was the most surreal experience of my life! And, the most surreal part, was that Kyle was completely infatuated with the girl that was with the group of teenagers. She looked so much like you in high school! Henry was trying to get Kyle to ask her out, because he was staring at her like how Henry would stare at you in high school!" He wiped laughing tears from underneath his eyes.

Henry walked over, listening to half the story. Not even Henry knew what he was talking about, but he knew Eddie was saying too much; "Shit!"

Winter, still stressed and confused, couldn't help but laugh at this crazy story and his laughter; "Who's Kyle? You mean Henry's brother, Robert? What store? When did Henry go to the store with you?"

Eddie stared at her for a moment, and his expression changed into a look that said that he told her too much; "Oh... Right... 2012..."

Henry walked up to the two of them.

Eddie grinned happily at Henry, as if he couldn't believe the man standing in front of him was actually there. He couldn't help but look at Henry with some sadness in his face, but he continued to smile; "Hey, man!"

Henry rubbed the side of his own cheek, as he looked at Eddie in his thirty-year-old body acting like the man that the turtle showed him was going to be his best friend in the future; "Jesus Christ... This is insane." He turned to Winter, "Can you give us a minute, babe?"

Winter nodded, as she questionably looked from Henry to Eddie, and walked away over to the administration desk.

"Henry, man!" Eddie softly smiled at him, "I can't believe I'm talking to you right now. Just... Wow..."

Henry continued to stare at Eddie as his future personality shinned. He knew they were going to age together in their friendship, and their personalities were going to mature and become more confident within time during the years, but seeing Eddie like this now was too much for Henry to process and adapt to.

"The turtle's energy is still in you, isn't it?" Henry asked him, "When I came back from the turtle's shell, showing me the future, it took a few minutes for me to go back to normal."

Eddie nodded, "If the turtle leaves, I'm going to feel the pain in my kidney. That's why I'm here, and my thirty-year-old self is asleep. I'm actually dreaming this right now in my reality."

Henry smirked and shook his head lightly; He couldn't believe this guy in front of him was going to be his best friend in the future; "What year are you from?"

Eddie became silent, wondering if he should answer that, but he asked, "It's after you... Well... You know... Do you want to know the year?"

Henry quickly shook his head, becoming fearful, "No... No, I don't..." He sighed as him and Eddie continued to keep eye-contact, "You need to let 2012 Eddie come back so he can get through the surgery."

Eddie nodded and forced his lips into a smile. He didn't want to go just yet, but he knew he had to. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at Henry's face for the last time. Eddie grabbed Henry's hand and put both hands on-top of Henry's and squeezed tight; "I miss you, man... More than you can ever know..." He shook his head as tears rolled down his face, "You changed my life, Henry... I love you, man."

Henry tried to keep himself composed, and he didn't know the emotions Eddie was going through, but he knew why he was crying and expressing his grief to him; "The turtle showed me after I hung myself... I don't want to know... I just want to forget about it, and enjoy my life..." He sighed, trying not to become emotional, as he put his other hand on-top of Eddie's; "Since the turtle's body died, we're going to slowly forget things, but before I do forget... I want you to know that I appreciate you so much, and just make sure she's okay... I love you, too, man."

Eddie nodded with a smile as another tear rolled down his face. He looked over to Winter, who was still waiting at the administration, and he softly smiled as another tear rolled down his face. "She misses you, too... So does everybody... You gave her a really great life."

Henry pursed his lips, and nodded, trying not to become emotional.

As the hospital workers rolled Eddie's bed into the surgery room, future Eddie looked one last time at thirty-two-year-old Henry. Before he left back to his reality where he was from, and thirty-year-old Eddie would return, he just wanted to remember seeing Henry one last time.

In the future, Eddie would wake up and think this was a dream.


	46. Part 46: Prepping For Eddie's Surgery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahem... I cried while writing this. Enjoy! If anyone wants to leave a comment, I never get any... Make me happy? Lol.
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

  
  
Winter left the washroom in the surgical wing. She needed to go in to clean up some of the blood that was coming from her cut on the side of her head, as it was pouring down her face, and she really wanted to stop the bleeding since it was bothering her.

Before she went into the washroom, she asked Henry to meet her in the waiting room since surgical patients, doctors, surgeons and Registered Nurses were only allowed in the surgical unit.

As she walked down the surgical unit, she decided to look into Eddie's surgery room to make sure everything was going smoothly.

To her surprise, when she looked in, there was two young nurses in there as Eddie laid in the surgical bed. Winter squinted her eyes at the uniforms the nurses were wearing, because she had recognized the attire of the outfits; They were college student uniforms for the same school she graduated from. They weren't registered nurses; They were only in college to be nurses. She also wondered where the doctor was.

Winter looked to her phone, which showed that Eddie had been waiting in the surgery room for ten minutes without anyone going in to do anything other than the students looking ready to start, but not actually looking like they knew what to do.

"What the hell?" Winter said to herself, as she walked quickly over to the Administration Desk that she was only standing at fifteen minutes ago when Henry and Eddie we're talking. She talked to the assistant sitting at the desk; "Why is Edward Kaspbrak still waiting on surgery? He needs to be checked out right now!"

The assistant recognized Winter right away as a casual RN at the hospital, and she felt comfortable enough to tell her; "The hospital is in a state of emergency right now. There was an attack at the Canal Festival this morning involving people, especially children, having body parts torn right off of them. The children's unit is at full capacity, and all the RN's and doctors are looking after them. We have called every doctor in Maine to come and help us. We are also waiting for more doctors to arrive from out of state. We have also pulled nurses in training from out of the classroom today to assist."

Winter stared at her in shock, knowing that Pennywise made all these attacks before all of them went into the sewers to kill It.

She quickly shook the thought of Pennywise out of her head; "Okay... I understand that, but what about Eddie? He needs to have surgery now! He's bleeding out and needs treatment right now!"

The woman at the desk looked like she was stressed out at all the chaos going on today, as she said, "It won't be until another hour until the extra doctors will be here."

"An hour?! An hour?!" Winter was beginning to panic, "Eddie doesn't have an hour to wait! All you have in there are those two nurses in training looking like they don't know what the hell to do without instructions!"

The worker opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out; "I don't know what to say... We have no choice but to wait, and they're taking care of the children first."

Winter stared at her in disbelief. She was speechless. Her mind was panicking. She could feel her heart dropping into her stomach. All the work she did trying to resuscitate Eddie, and this lady was telling her that Eddie was basically going to die waiting to be taken care of.

Winter, in shock to what she was told, slowly walked away from the desk. Her anxiety felt like it was making her soul leave her body and that there was no floor beneath her, as she continued to walk slowly with no real direction to where she was going.

"This can't be happening..." she said quietly to herself as her mind continued to spiral.

The idea of Eddie dying scared her more than the idea of anyone else dying, and she didn't know where that feeling was manifesting from, but it was coming from deep inside of her gut. Her gut already knew something that her mind and heart wasn't able to know and process.

Winter turned and was staring at the rack of doctors’ scrubs and surgical coats. As she stared at them, she thought about the clinical workshop she only did last week in her doctor training. She had already done this surgery, on a dummy, but she studied hard for it, and she aced the clinical test.

_"When we get to the hospital, it can go one of two ways, but I can't give you details. Follow what your heart tells you. Please follow your heart and be the boss lady that you are... Don't let me die again, Winter... I'm safe in your hands, and you're going to be safe in my hands one day... Just don't let me die."_

She wondered how this could have been possible. Was this what Eddie was warning her about? How would he have known this?

Winter pursed her lips with nervousness and considered if it was a good idea. But, as she continued to think, she realized that it was the best choice; He was going to die if he waited for a doctor to come, but she could possibly still save him.

She grabbed the coat and the scrubs, stripped down to her bra and panties right there in the unit where anyone could see her (she didn't care if people were watching her), and then she began walking over to the surgery room.

Before she could walk in, the Medical Admin she was just talking to, got up from her desk and ran over to Winter with a couple of security following behind.

"You're not allowed to do this!" she warned her. "Besides, you look injured!"

Winter turned to look at them, and she just let her mouth talk without any thoughts to try and put her own motivation down over her decision; "I'm not hurt -- This is Edward Kaspbrak's blood on me!" she lied, but she needed to get in the room, "I already saved him, which wasn't easy to do, so I am not going to be told by anyone that I can't go in there and do this surgery myself!"

"Excuse me, but you can't make this call--"

"Actually, I can!" Winter protested with tears nearly in her eyes that she held in as she remained strong, "I am a License Registered Nurse, and I'm in training to be a doctor! You already told me that the two girls in there are in college and don't even have their licenses! If you're worried about a lawsuit, you guys already created it by telling me that you have unfit people running this place right now!"

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Listen! I am not going to tell anyone that you have college students in some of the rooms acting as RN's -- Not if you let me go in there and do what I'm being trained to do!" Winter shouted at them, "Edward Kaspbrak's mom and wife are vicious people! If you don't let anyone -- that includes me, an actually Licensed RN -- go in there and do the surgery, they will sue the hospital for medical negligence on a critical patient who is in dire need of surgery! And, since you've told me everything already, as much as I hate his mom and his wife with a passion, I will be a witness on trial and help them win the lawsuit! He is going to die if he keeps waiting, but at least he has a chance at living if I go in there!"

They continued to stare at her.

Winter stared at her with fury and tears in her eyes; "I'm not fucking around here when I say that there is going to be a lawsuit on your hands if you don't let me try! If he dies under my care, the College of Nurses of Maine can revoke my license, but if you don't let me go in there, it's going to become very ugly for this hospital when you have to call his wife and tell her that her husband died from medical negligence!"

Winter stared at them, as they continued to stand in their spots and didn't look like they were going to back away.

"DON'T EVEN TEST ME! I WILL HELP HIS WIFE IN THE LAWSUIT, AND SHE WILL WIN! THE KASPBRAK'S ARE POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE U.S., AND THEY WILL HIRE THE BEST LAWYERS IN THE COUNTRY!"

The hospital worker and security backed away, realizing the point Winter was making was valid, and it frightened them to think that they could be sued.

Winter continued to stare at them as she opened the door to the room and entered.

Once she was in the surgery room, she looked around in disbelief; "What the fuck am I doing?" she mumbled to herself regarding the situation she put herself in.

The two students looked at Winter, and one of the girls, who had red hair, shyly asked; "Are you the surgeon?"

Winter looked at her, "No, I'm an RN. I'm going to be doing the surgery..." She stared at the two girls who looked as nervous as she was, "You can just call me Winter."

Winter walked over to Eddie, who was sleeping in the bed. "You two haven't given him anything yet, right?"

"No!" the other girl, with blonde hair, said, "We were waiting for instructions. We did set up his vitals, and a technician came in to take an X-ray of his kidney..." She put up the X-ray to the light chart, which shined on the wall.

Winter could see what the large claw slice looked like through his body. She had been right; It did cut through his kidney. At least she officially knew what the problem was.

Winter turned to the two girls, "We're going to be performing a Nephrectomy on his left kidney. The surgery will take about three or more hours..." She nearly had a problem inhaling air when she heard herself say the amount of time it would take to do surgery on her friend with no surgery experience, only on a dummy; "We will put him under general anesthesia, and then turn him over on his right side."

Eddie's heart monitor started to beep quicker, and Winter's attention went straight to his monitor as the line was tracing lines up and down faster and faster. She looked at his face, and he was turning a red color, and he looked to be in distress.

Before she could react to Eddie going under a state of shock, Eddie's eyes popped open, and he yelled with a slight jump in the bed, "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A JEALOUS MISERABLE FUCK, RICHIE!"

Winter and the students stared wide-eyed at him.

Right away, his heart-monitor line was returning back to normal as his heart rate was going back down to normal, and his skin-tone was going back to normal, too.

Winter had never heard him become that mad before. He sounded like he was ready to tackle someone to the ground, or throw punches. She wondered why he yelled that, and why he said Richie.

Winter stepped over to his face, and grabbed his hand as he was coming to; "Hey, Edz... Are you okay?"

"Oh, fuck..." he moaned slightly in pain, "Whatever movement I just did really hurt."

Winter looked over to the two students, and asked, "Is it okay if you give us just five minutes? Then we will start..."

The two girls nodded and walked away to a separate room attached to the operating room.

Winter looked back at Eddie, who was staring lovingly at her.

He said, "Hey... It's you..."

Winter let out a tiny nervous laugh, "It's me... I wish it was a surgeon... but it's me."

Eddie placed the back of his fingers gently to stroke Winter's cheek.

She asked him; "Do you remember anything? Why did you just yell out about Richie?"

Eddie shook his head as he kept his gaze on her, "Oh... Um..." he took a moment to think about it, "I actually don't remember... I don't remember getting here either... But I saw a lot of things I want to remember, but I won't be able to after today..."

Eddie was back to his normal self, not like the more confident and charming person she met in the truck, but he continued to stare at her face like she was mesmerizing as he stroked her cheek. She didn't know why he was being so loving and sweet towards her when they had talked earlier in the sewers that they were just going to be friends; But, he stared at her in a different way, like he saw something in her that no one else could have seen, like a story, and he was memorized by it.

"Do you still remember our relationship in the winter-time, or have you forgotten yet?" he asked her weakly. He figured if she did forget, he would blame the injury for coming up with that question.

Winter weakly smiled and nodded, "How could I forget?"

Eddie smiled a big closed-lip smile at her; He was happy she still remembered, and they had time to talk before he was going to go under the knife. He knew the next time he saw her, the memories were going to be wiped from her memory. He didn't know if he would forget as easily since he spent the past little while riding on the turtle's shell, but he knew she wouldn't remember it at all.

Eddie didn't say anything, he just wanted to peacefully look at her face while he stroked it. When his attention went to the cut on the side of her head, he went to go touch it, but stopped himself when he saw that it was still fresh. He looked like he was mentally trying to take images with his memory of looking at her in this moment.

Winter stared back into his passionate looking gaze, and she took the hand that was stroking her cheek into hers.

When she grabbed his hand, he guided her palm and fingers to rest on top of his chest, right at his heart, as he kept his own hand on top of hers. The only time he ever put her hand there was when they were riding in the truck to the hospital. Other than that time, he had never done it before.

She cleared her throat softly, and said softly, "Edz... This is the last time I'm going to do this..."

She placed her free hand to the side of his face with her thumb resting on his cheekbone, and she slowly inched her face closer to his. While she was going in for the kiss, she looked into his eyes before closing them, and softly placed her lips on top of his.

When she laid her soft lips on his, he continued to hold her hand closer to his heart, almost as if he wanted her to feel his heartbeat on her palm as they kissed. He kissed her with all the passion that he had inside of him, and he placed his free hand to the side of her neck, bringing her closer as they softly alternated kissing from lower lip to upper lip.

They didn't want to separate as the passion in their kiss made time stop around them. All the care and love for each other was felt in this one kiss. It was a kiss that symbolized the ending of their relationship that had never existed in this corrected universe, and the beginning of a relationship that wasn't going to happen for many years to come in this same universe.

When they separated, they kept their eyes closed and gently had their foreheads together while Eddie continued to hold her hand to his heart.

His heart felt so full.

While they stayed like that, their lips were so close that they were breathing in each other’s air, and it felt like an entirely different world to them.

Winter was still somewhat speechless after the kiss; Their kisses between each other never felt that loving before.

Softly and quietly, Eddie began to sing with his eyes still closed, and Winter could feel his breath on her lips as he sang; _"Tell the world that I'm coming home... Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday, and now my kingdom awaits, and they've forgiven my mistakes... I'm coming home... I'm coming home... Tell the world that I'm coming home."_

Eddie had never sung that song before, but Winter recognized it from being played on the radio in 2010. It was _'Coming Home'_ by Skylar Grey. The lyrics gave her some peace to listen to while being so close to him, but she didn't know why.

Still having his eyes closed and her forehead on his, he said in a soft breathy voice, "I've never heard that song before in my life, not even the rap version, but it kept playing when I was riding on the shell... It filled my heart up with peace and happiness, and I just wanted to be close to you when it kept playing."

Winter opened her eyes to look at him, and his facial expression looked so peaceful. Eddie was never one to say romantic things to her, even in their relationship, so she wondered what happened when he was unconscious. Everything he had said to her since leaving the sewers was a big question mark to her, and the way he looked at her and touched her was a big question mark.

"My heart is beating like crazy... My chest is sore, too..." He let his lips part in a smile, "Did you beat the shit out of my chest or something?"

Winter finally noticed the heart monitor machine beeping; It was almost like everything turned off when they were kissing.

Winter softly smiled as she stood up straighter to look at him; "Edz, I would have broken your ribcage to restart your heart if I had to."

Eddie let out a soft laugh and smiled, "You're crazy."

Winter softly laughed, "You know what's crazy? I have to perform surgery on you, and the way I got in here was by threatening that your wife will sue if you didn't get surgery soon, and I would help her in the lawsuit."

Eddie laughed some more as he looked at her, "You're psycho if you want to work alongside Myra."

"I think I've hit my psychotic breaking point once we all got in here," she joked.

Eddie stroked her arm, as he said, "I trust you... I'm safe in your hands."

Winter pursed her lips at his trust in her. She loved Eddie very much, but she knew she still wanted to marry Henry, even after this moment with Eddie. She could tell by his facial expression that he was at peace with that decision, and she wondered very much the things he saw when he was unconscious to make him so at peace and not stressed out anymore, like typical Eddie Kaspbrak.

"Are you ready, Edz?" Winter asked softly, not wanting the moment to end, but he needed to have this procedure done.

He looked up to her face one last time, and he put his hand back on her cheek. He knew this was the last time she would remember the relationship they had together, and he really had no idea what she would, and wouldn't, remember the next time he was going to talk to her. But... He was at peace with it. He just wanted to look at her one last time.

"I'm ready," he said with his soft puppy dog eyes looking into hers.

Softly, she said, "Okay..."

Winter put the anesthesia mask on Eddie, and instructed him to breathe and count backwards from ten.

When he was out, she removed the mask. She looked at his unconscious face again, and she couldn't help but tear up and become scared for the procedure. She softly kissed his cheek.

Winter walked over to the other room where the two students were waiting for her to get them.

When she opened the door, the two students looked surprised at Winter's red watery eyes, as she said to them:

"Listen... I know you guys are not nurses yet, like I'm not a doctor yet..." Winter's voice went higher as the tears kept coming, "And you two are probably really scared, like I am to be in here doing this, and you probably feel a humongous amount of pressure on your shoulders, like I do, but..." she paused as she pleaded to them with her eyes, and her voice went higher, "He can't die..."

The students could see the desperate plea in Winter's eyes and heard it in her voice.

"He can't die..." she repeated, as she sniffled and more tears rolled down her face, "After we finish the surgery, I will give you my phone number, and you two can call me anytime if you need anything, like recommendation letters, or some extra cash, or whatever you need... I will be forever in your debt if you help me save him... But, please... He can't die."

Even the student’s eyes were turning red and watering as they watched her become so emotional. They saw how genuine she was being with them, pleading them to help her. They could tell that she meant it when she said that she would do anything for them if they help her save her friend.

Both of them nodded with tears in their eyes.

In the Triage, Henry, Bill, Ben, Bev, Mike and Richie were finally able to check-in.

Henry thought that Winter might have caught up with some co-workers, and that's why she was taking longer from coming back from the washroom. Thankfully he had her wallet to give her information to the nurse, as well as Eddie's wallet with him.

Henry said to the nurse as the others listened, "Eddie is already in surgery, I'm just checking him in. I need my leg stitched up. Winter Callaghan will need stitches, too."

The nurse looked at Henry, "Winter's in surgery right now."

Henry's eyes went wide, as well as the rest of the group.

"Surgery?" Richie repeated.

"How come she's in surgery?" Henry asked as worry filled up his face, "She just has a cut on her head and on her stomach. She might need an Xray, though... Why is she in surgery?"

The nurse checked her computer; "She's performing a Nephrectomy on Edward Kaspbrak."

"WHAT?!" they all shouted together in disbelief.


	47. Part 47: Memories Fade To Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last part to Chapter Two! Chapter Three starts soon! I'm just going to keep adding it in this story, so it will be Chapter 2 & 3! 
> 
> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

Eddie slowly awoke; Fluttering his weak eyelids open to a very bright hospital room. When his eyes fully opened, his head was turned towards the window where he saw a bright sunny sky. 

"Hey, you're finally awake!" 

Eddie turned towards the voice at the end of the bed. 

It was Henry sitting there, watching him get adjusted to everything around him. He had a notebook in his hands and a pen. He was preparing to write down some notes about Eddie's visions.

"I'm alive..." Eddie observed. 

Henry nodded and looked around the room; "Yeah -- Well, this room will be your life for the next week, but it beats being dead." 

Eddie softly smiled at Henry, "You and Winter saved me?" 

Henry nodded, "You escaped death three times, actually. First I pushed you out of the way from Pennywise, then Winter resuscitated your heart, even way past the amount of times it takes to restart a heart, and then when no one was around to operate on you, she decided to do it. So, I would say that Winter did most of the saving." 

A small smile formed on Eddie's lips as he remembered the kiss in the operating room. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes, "She's crazy... I can't believe she went as far as to operate on me." 

"Jesus Christ, Eddie; When the Triage told us that she forced herself into the operating room, me, Bev, Mike, Bill, Richie and Ben were in the waiting room just _waiting_ for the police to come and arrest her!" Henry let out a laugh; "I was looking through my bank info to make sure I had enough money to bail her out of jail." 

Eddie let out a restrained laugh, thinking it was funny, but he didn't want to injure his stitches; "So, I guess she's fine then? She didn't get in trouble?" 

Henry smiled, "A half hour after she started operating on you, an actual surgeon went in your room. Since Winter was already into the surgery, they couldn't rotate and have the surgeon do the rest of the operating, so he just stayed in the room with her for the rest of the surgery and watched her and guided her." 

"Seriously?" Eddie asked, "So, she's not in trouble, right?"

Henry shook his head, "The hospital actually was so impressed with her and happy that she saved them from a lawsuit, that they offered to pay for the rest of her schooling, and hire her full-time after she was done school."

Eddie placed his hand to his forehead happily, and smiled, "That's amazing!" 

Henry smiled, feeling proud; "I know! She also asked the hospital to pay for the rest of the schooling for the student nurses that assisted her." Henry paused and patted Eddie's foot gently, "So... What do you remember after waking up?" 

Eddie sighed as he thought about it, "The relationship I had with Winter is starting to feel like a dream, and there's new memories being created in my head that are replacing everything that happened in the winter. It's so weird... I didn't end up seeing Winter again until we all met up for dinner in Derry two days ago." He shook his head in disbelief at the new memories being created in his mind; "The only thing that is the same, is that I'm trying to figure out how to leave Myra. That part never changed... The only thing that changed was that Winter wasn't there to help me." 

Henry nodded, "Yeah, it will take longer for you and me to forget things since we both had visions from the turtle." He gently smiled at Eddie; "Even the black-eye I gave you today has disappeared. I gave it to you because you lied to me when we went for coffee, but we never went for coffee together, and there was no reasons for me to give you a black-eye. Even Bill said that all the photos with Winter you have on Facebook have disappeared, too." 

Curiously, Eddie asked, "So, if I never bumped into Winter at the hospital back in January after you guys had broken up for four years, then what actually happened to her and you?" 

Henry sighed as he rubbed his neck, "My new memories being created are showing me that, after I hurt Winter in the kitchen with the bottle, she still ran out on me..." He cleared his throat, recalling this memory, "I still tried to kill myself to get rid of the ghosts with the guidance of the turtle. The only thing that's different, is that Winter found out that I was in the hospital from it. After that happened, I promised her that I would check into a rehab so we could save the relationship. When I checked into the place, I was in there for a year, and she moved to Castle Rock to wait for me and get her RN License. The entire time, she was still living with The Hanks and taking care of their sick mom. A year later, I moved to Derry to take over my dad's mechanic shop, and eventually Winter moved in with me at my house. We've been living together for about two years." Henry nodded to himself as Eddie listened, "During the year I was in rehab, she wasn't severely depressed like how she was in the other world, because I was still alive and she knew I was alive, and she would visit me every weekend. We were still together. We never broke up." 

Eddie stared at Henry in disbelief, and then rubbed his eyes, "This is so insane!"

Henry let out a little laugh; "Yeah, it really is! Even the rest of the gang doesn't remember that you cheated on your wife with Winter, and they don't know that we were all stuck in a universe where two worlds collided." He paused, and then added, "The only people who will remember all this is Bill and Mike, because I asked them to help me create envelopes with all the information of the parallel universe incase you or Winter will need it in the future... Just incase you guys start to remember, and you need an explanation. By that time, I'll be gone, and you'll need some explanation to understand the memories, or however they will appear to you; It could be visions, dreams, memories... I don't know." 

Eddie took his hands away from his eyes, and looked seriously at Henry, "How are you okay with all of this? You can just look at me knowing that, after you pass, I'll be in a relationship with her?" He pursed his lips, feeling guilty, "Like... How can you possible be okay with this?" 

Henry scratched his chin as he answered, "Well... If it comes down to Winter moving on with someone who I trust to protect her, or to know that she ends up killing herself, of course I would be okay with you and her being together. I don't want her life to end tragically, especially when all I've ever wanted was to keep her safe."

Eddie half smiled at him, still unable to understand what emotions he could be going through just knowing so much about his legacy. 

"You know..." Henry began, as he cleared his throat, "I think apart of me always knew I was going to die before she did... I always looked at her, and I would say to her, even when we were teenagers, _'You're my soulmate until my last day on earth'_..." He looked at Eddie, as he listened intently, "Like... Why would I never say 'forever', ya know? And, also, I've always been a bit possessive over her, especially when we were teenagers, but I knew you had a crush on her in high school... And it just never bothered me. I knew you guys were really playful together and did that whole dance class thing, but, it was like... I knew Winter's eyes only saw me, and it will be like that until I die. As long as I'm here on earth, Winter only wants me, and that gives me comfort." 

Eddie nodded with a tight-lip smile, feeling sadness, knowing that the man sitting at the end of his bed wasn't going to have a long life like the rest of them would. Yet, he was so at peace with it. 

Henry's eyes turned very sad when he said, "I lied to her last night..."

Eddie listened intently. 

"I know she's not going to remember the conversation we had, but after I told all of you about the time-lines messing up our world because I killed myself, she asked me how much time I'm going to have on this earth..." He paused as he thought about it, "And I told her I was going to be here for decades and decades... I didn't want her to know that my time here doesn't last the average, or else she would just keep thinking about when it could possibly happen..." 

"You're a strong person, Henry..." Eddie said sadly, "I already can feel the sadness over you dying..." 

Henry looked at him seriously, "Don't tell me how or when, okay? I know the turtle showed me, but I'm trying to forget it... I think by tomorrow, everything that the turtle showed me, and the world that never existed, will be totally wiped from my memory... Same for you, too, probably." He inhaled deeply, before he said, "After I'm done talking to you, I'll send her in to talk to you. After your surgery, she passed out over the stress of trying to save you and her concussion... When she woke up, everything that happened between you and her, and the past few years that didn't happen in this world, are totally forgotten. She doesn't remember anything." 

With sadness still in his eyes, knowing that Winter couldn't remember the amazing ups and downs they had together, Eddie nodded. 

Henry cleared his throat before he changed the subject, "So... Like I said, the only people who are going to remember the parallel universe will be Bill and Mike. I left them both letters that they will read everyday to remind themselves, until they need to give you and Winter those envelopes from me..." He smiled, "They're going to be like my messengers from the other side." 

"That's kind of dark and morbid..." Eddie said, amused. 

Henry laughed, "What part of our lives has ever not been dark and morbid?" 

"Very true!" Eddie smiled. "Can we talk about something I will remember?" 

Henry took a moment to think; "The hospital called your wife. She will be here in the next few hours." 

Eddie threw his hands to his face and groaned, "Fuck!" He took his hands away and looked at Henry; "Henry, I wanted to leave her so bad! I even threw my ring in The Barrens! How the hell am I going to leave her when I will need her to help me recover once I'm discharged from here?" 

Henry smiled softly, as he thought very deeply about it before he said; "Give me your car keys, and I'll drive your car from the Inn to my house. You can live with Winter and me while you're recovering and get your feet back on the ground. I have a guest room you can stay in."

"Really?" He asked, shocked, "You don't mind?" 

Henry shrugged, "If we turn into best friends in the future, I assume it starts somewhere." He smiled, "Besides, Winter needs a couple of weeks to recover from her concussion before she can go to work, so she can help you recover. Also, I can go to Mumford before you get dischaged and pick up whatever you need from your house. I'll just need to somehow dodge your wife."

Eddie smiled, feeling grateful for this man who was going to have a big impact on his life; "Thanks, man." 

Henry began, "I just want to be sure that my letters to everyone are accurate. When the turtle showed me the future after my death, I was shown that you help Winter cope and you guys eventually fall in love; Is that still accurate? You help her through, and that prevents her from ever ending her own life?" 

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows a bit as he thought about it; He shook his head slowly, "It's more complicated than that, man..." 

Concerned, Henry asked, "Wait... What changed since the turtle showed me?" 

Eddie took a moment before he said, "Stan's dead... Stan was still alive when you saw the future... His death caused a change."

Henry's eyes went wide, not realizing that his death would have caused some changes, "Shit!" He sighed, "How does this affect things? Who's life does it affect?" 

Eddie inhaled deeply and blew out the air before saying; "It affects Richie, which is going to affect me and Winter."

Scratching his chin, Henry wanted to hear everything and write it down. 

After Henry and Eddie talked about the changes in the universe over Stan's death, and how it affects Richie's future, Henry told Eddie that he would send Winter to visit him. Henry mentioned that Eddie would need to remember that him and Winter only actually caught up again when they all met up to defeat Pennywise, because she didn't remember anything from the other world. Henry suggested that if Eddie said anything that would confuse Winter, that he could just blame it on the medications. 

Winter stepped to the door-frame and looked at Eddie laying in his hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. 

Eddie looked over to Winter, and smiled a big smile at her. He thought she looked so gorgeous, even with that cut on the right side of her head. 

"There's my favourite psychotic nurse," he said. 

Winter giggled as she walked in, and sat beside him at the side of his bed; "How are you?" 

"Well, I do have one less organ, so I feel a little lighter," he joked. 

"Don't fly away like a feather," she added with a smile. "I've already put all my energy into saving you today, I don't think I could catch you if you fly into the clouds." 

Eddie smiled at her; Looking at her already made him feel like he was in the clouds, and he didn't know how he was ever going to come back down. He just wanted to touch her and rub her arm up and down, but he knew he couldn't. 

"I'm glad you're okay..." she smiled lovingly at him, "I don't think I've ever been so stressed out in my life." 

He smiled; "So does this mean you're going to become a surgeon?" 

Winter laughed as she shook her head, "Hell no! I don't think I could ever handle going through that again." She tilted her head sweetly, as she said, "Maybe a family doctor, though?" she considered. 

Eddie couldn't keep his eyes off of her and couldn't rid his smile as he looked at her; "I think that would be perfect for you." 

_Would it really be that confusing if I stroked her arm?_ he wondered as he looked at her arm that was resting in her lap. 

Winter kept her soft gaze on him as she continued to sweetly smile at him. Eddie thought that he could still see that she had feelings for him in her gaze, but he couldn't be sure, especially since she only remembers seeing him for the first time during dinner with The Losers after fifteen years of not seeing each other since high school. 

"I wanted to talk to you about something..." Winter said. 

Eddie slowly nodded, wondering what it could have been about; "Go ahead." 

"I just..." she pursed her lips as she gathered her words; "I just wanted to apologize for kissing you in the operating room." 

Eddie pupils slowly went wide as she mentioned that. _So that actually happened in this world? Does she remember the song I sang to her afterwards?_ he wondered, but she probably didn't remember the song, since it was brought up because of a vision from the turtle.

That kiss was like liquid ecstasy. It was the best and most Tantric kiss he had ever experienced in his life; It was full of sensation, love and care. 

"I probably shouldn't have done it..." she continued on, as Eddie listened, "But..." she shook her head as she thought about the memory, "It was like..." she looked deep into his eyes, "It was like you and me had this whole other life together... And I just couldn't stand the idea of you dying. To be honest, if it were anyone else other than you, or Henry, that needed to have the operation, I don't think I would have gone to the extent that I did with you." 

Eddie nodded slowly as he continued to look at her. The way she was talking to him made him think that she might always have a love for him that she couldn't explain, and it might be the same for him. 

He looked at the arm that he was debating to stroke, and he put his finger tips on her skin. 

She took his hand on her arm and held it in her hand as she looked into his eyes. They had a new connection and love for each other that would be detained in them until it was time to let their feelings out in the future, and Eddie knew that it would be many years until those feelings would come to the surface. 

"I'll be honest, it was the best kiss of my life, and I'm glad that you gave me that kiss right before the surgery. If I was going to die in the operating room, it was nice to know that I got to experience the best kiss of my life," he smiled. "And don't worry, it's not like I'm going to go up to Henry and tell him that you kissed me." 

Winter softly smiled as she listened to him. 

"It can be our little secret..." He added, "But if you want to tell Myra about it, go ahead! It might make it easier for me when I have to argue with her about leaving," he joked. 

Winter laughed softly; Making Eddie smile even more. 

"You were telling me that you're nervous about leaving her, because she was planning to take your business and money; Are you still worried about it?" she asked, curiously. 

_She can have my money, my business, my house, and anything else she wants if that all means that I get to be with you in the future..._ Eddie thought peacefully. 

"I'm at peace with it," Eddie smiled. "Besides, I'll come up with a way to make my money back. I'm an entrepreneur; I'll come up with a cool idea. I might even play with the stocks again, too. I'll have my financial security back again." 

Winter nodded, happy for his optimism. "It's better to be hopeful for a peaceful future than to be stuck in a toxic relationship because of fear of change." 

Eddie gave her a big smile and nodded.

They both exchanged a long stare, which felt longer than just the few seconds that it was. 

Eddie cleared his throat, "Do you have your inhaler? I threw mine in the fire during The Ritual of Chud, and I really need a puff." 

Although he had planned to throw his letter for Winter that he wrote when he was fifteen in the fire, he decided last minute that it meant too much to him to throw away. 

Winter nodded, and grabbed her inhaler. 

Eddie took the apparatus, shook it up, and inhaled the medicine. He scrunched his face when he tasted the medicine. 

"Holy shit! That's really strong!" 

Winter smiled, "I told you that your inhaler was just a placebo; It's only water and Normal Saline Solution. Mine is actual medical ingredients." 

Eddie never really believed it until he tasted her medicine; "Wow..." he was flabbergasted. "I guess I really don't need it then." 

Winter softly smiled, and then mentioned, "While being here in the hospital, I had to go through your medical file that you've had since you were a kid. I compared all the immune and respiratory problems written on the charts with the bloodwork they got from you today..." she looked him deep in the eyes, "Edz, your mom has been telling the doctors you've been sick since you were a kid, but there's no reason for any medications you take. Your health is perfect. If anything, the pills you've been on for all the issues she thinks you have is going to be what makes you sick in the future."

Eddie stared into her eyes, and all he could see was love and care. He remembered she once showed concern about his mom having Munchausen syndrome by proxy when they were teenagers. 

"If you trust me, I can help you get off of all your medications and help you adjust to a new life away from taking all those pharmaceuticals. We can start after you're off the antibiotics and pain killers from your surgery." 

Eddie nodded and softly smiled at her, "I trust you more than I trust anyone else." 

_God, I just want to kiss your beautiful lips right now. Not only do you kiss me like you care for me, but you actually show it in so many ways..._ he thought to himself. 

Winter smiled, "Okay, perfect. We will work together on getting you off all the medications." 

When Winter was finished speaking with Eddie, she walked out to the hallway towards the waiting room where all her friends were. She hadn't seen them since they had arrived at the hospital more than four hours ago. 

Winter stepped into the waiting room. When Henry, Mike, Bill, Bev, Ben and Richie saw her, they all stood up from their chairs and began applauding her for saving Eddie's life. They smiled at her happily and just continued to clap as she walked over to them with a big smile. 

They individually gave her a hug, also giving her a word of gratitude for her bravery and last minute thinking. 

"You're amazing!" Bev said. 

"Thank you so much for saving his life," Richie said gratefully. 

"Y-You deserve a medal!" Bill.

"We are all so lucky to have you apart of the Losers Club!" Mike.

"Amazing job, Winter!" Ben. 

Henry went up to her and gave her a big hug. 

He looked at her, "How's your head?" 

Winter kissed his cheek, and answered, "I wouldn't mind another nap."

Henry smiled at her, "Before you do that, you and me have something to do that is long overdue." 

Winter raised her eyebrow in curiosity, "And what could that be?" 

"Well..." Henry smiled, excitedly, "I called The Derry Courthouse, and they have an opening this afternoon for a marriage... Do you want to get married today?" 

Winter stared at him with wide eyes, "Seriously? Today? In our clothes after getting out of the sewers?" 

Henry bursted out laughing, and shrugged, "Why not? The others say they will come and watch in their sewer clothes." 

Winter smiled, "Alright then! Let's get married!" 

Henry smiled, and then gave her a passionate kiss on the lips, excited to start the next chapter of their lives together. 

"Unfortunately, Eddie can't join us, but I'm sure he will be fine with it," Henry said.

And since Eddie still had memories of the world he lived in with Winter, it would have probably been better for him not to go. 

"It's fine; He'll be seeing enough of us once he moves in," Winter smiled. 

On that day, May 31, 2012, Winter and Henry were pronounced husband and wife, and began their next chapter in their lives.


	48. CH. 3/PT. 1: A New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

** **

** Friday May 16, 2031 (19 years later) **

_"I have here in my notes from you, that you got home from picking up a pizza for you and Richard Tozier at 10:50PM. Before you left, at 10:20PM, Edward Kaspbrak wasn't at the home; Is that correct?"_

_Bill nodded, "Y-Yeah, that's right..." He stood out on his front lawn that evening at 11:00 at night, feeling stress and concern over the situation. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke to the police officer and watched as two ambulances showed up and the paramedics quickly went inside the house._

_"You weren't the first person to call 911. The neighbours called two minutes before you did. They could hear the disruption from across the street," The officer commented. "Do you know what started the fight? It's rare to see two men, who are nearing their fifties and are successful like them, to beat the shit out of each other like that. It looks like they were trying to kill each other."_

_Bill blew out some air; He knew what started their first fight almost a whole year ago, but he couldn't be sure and didn't want to reveal too much information if he didn't know for-sure how this new fight started. "I don't know what started this fight."_

_That first fight was nothing compared to what Bill had witnessed when he walked into the house._

_The police officer nodded; "Okay... Well, we'll question them at the hospital. Thank you for your time."_

_As the police officer left Bill standing on his front lawn, Bill put his hands to his eyes and rubbed at them stressfully. He was only gone to get a pizza for thirty minutes, and he came home to the whole living room destroyed; Walls had holes in them, tables were smashed, the television was on the ground, and two of his best friends (and house-mates) were laying eight-feet apart on the floor with their faces covered in blood; They were just laying there, unable to move, as they spit up blood on the floor._

_The sounds of wheels coming through the door-frame made Bill turn around; There was Richie in the hospital gurney as he lolled his head around._

_Bill followed the bed to the ambulance, and he caught Richie's black and blue eyes that were swelling up with his gaze; "R-Richie, what th-the fuck happened?"_

_Still pissed off, Richie said to Bill, "He fucking thinks I'm in love with one of them; either him or Winter! Then the tiny fucker told me to never talk to Winter or him again!"_

_"W-What?" Bill repeated, confused._

_"Yeah! I don't know what the fuck he was talking about either!" Richie looked up as he saw Eddie's gurney being pushed out of the house with him on the bed lolling around in pain; "FUCK YOU! YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I DON'T CARE IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN!"_

_Eddie looked up from his gurney, "YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU DID TONIGHT, RICHIE! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA! YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL! I MEAN IT; GO TO HELL! DON'T EVER CONTACT ME OR WINTER EVER AGAIN!"_

_"YOU TWO NEED TO SHUT UP!" a police officer yelled._

_Richie laid back in the bed and he mumbled to himself, "Thinks I'm fucking in love with him or Winter. Winter can fucking have that Henry Bowers wannabe piece of shit."_

_"Oh, my God..." Bill muttered to himself at all the craziness going on around him tonight._

_Once they put Richie in the ambulance, Bill walked over to Eddie's gurney, which was being guided down the driveway into the ambulance that was there for him._

_"E-Eddie, what the fuck...?" Bill asked, exhausted of trying to get answers but getting nothing._

_"Bill!" Eddie looked at him with his bruised eyes and blood covering every inch of his face; "Bill, you need to go check on Winter! I left her on the sofa at her house -- she should be sleeping, but please just check on her!"_

_"Y-Yeah, sure..." Bill said, "B-But what ha-happened with you and Richie?"_

_"He doesn't realize it, 'cause I never got the chance to tell him before he punched me, that whatever he said to her tonight almost KILLED HER! HIS STUPID MOUTH ALMOST KILLED HER!" he said, stressfully and angrily._

_Bill's eyes went wide as he tried to absorb this information; "What?"_

_Eddie grabbed onto Bill's wrist, and looked him in the eyes; He looked into Bill's eyes with plea in his own; "Please, Bill! Just go to her house and make sure she's still asleep! Make sure she doesn't believe that we all turn into birds!"_

_"Birds?"_

** Eddie -- Monday May 19, 2031 **

_'Beep! Beep! Beep!'_

I looked at my watch -- 10AM -- and turned off the alarm. 

"Sorry, I just need to take my pain-killer," I struggled to say as the pain-killer from the night before had worn off hours ago. 

"No problem, Eddie," said Doctor Williams as she watched me grab the pills from my pocket. 

I took a pill and a swig of water; Now I just had to wait for them to numb out the pain in my swollen and cut-up face. 

I had never been to a psychologist before. I was sitting in the comfy sofa chair with my black buttoned-up dress shirt and dark fitted blue-jeans. I don't know why I decided to dress like I was going to a job interview, but I always dressed nice wherever I went. 

I observed the big window that was behind Doctor Williams desk in the room full of psychology books and university degrees hanging perfectly on the walls. Then I looked at the doctor, who was probably just a few years older than me, as she sat a few feet across from me with her notebook. 

"Why did you want to come to therapy, Eddie? What are your goals out of these sessions?" she asked. 

I put my hand in the air as I explained, "If it wasn't for Richie, Winter and me would be moving on fine and wouldn't need to do these sessions."

Doctor Williams nodded understandably, "So you're mostly here because of Richie, but if there was a goal you would like to achieve by the end of the sessions, what would it be?"

It felt like such a loaded question; There had been so many things that happened this year that needed to be healed. I hated talking about my feelings and thoughts, but at the same time, once I begin to talk, I can't stop. 

I cleared my throat, as I told her, "My best friend passed away almost a year ago -- the end of this month will be a year... and I've fallen in love with his wife..." I looked to her face to see a reaction (a judgement), but there was nothing; She just took down notes, "All three of us have known each other since we were kids. I had known Henry since I was about four, and I met Winter when I was fifteen. I've always had a crush on Winter, and I never thought that we would be getting so close when Henry died. I never thought we would be getting close -- period -- since we all thought her and Henry would be together until they were old, and they would die peacefully in the same time-frame. Although we all knew each other since we were young, we all didn't actually become best friends until about nineteen years ago."

"I'm very sorry about your best friend," She said very compassionately; I responded with a tight sad smile and nodded; "You said that you're falling in love with his wife..." she looked up to me after making the note in her notebook, "How do you feel about that?" 

_Guilty._

_Ecstatic._

_Terrible._

_On top of the world._

_Like the worst person on this planet._

_Like the luckiest man on this planet._

"I feel a lot of different things..." I told her sadly, as I looked at her face. "I've never been in love before, even though I was married years ago. The woman I married resembled my mother, and I married her, because I was use to living with my mom my whole life... I didn't know that I could love someone with my heart." 

"Out of all the different emotions you're feeling, what is the number one emotion that comes to mind when you think of Winter?" she asked. 

I slightly smiled, as I said, "Excitement, love, butterflies..."

I continued on, "But every time I start to feel some happiness about Winter and me healing together, I have Richie's voice in my head..." I looked at the doctor's face, "That's why I wanted Winter and me to come to therapy, and do separate sessions, so we can figure out what are feelings are for each other..." I balled up my fists in anger as I told her, "Richie has been getting into our heads even before Henry died. Every time I want to move on with Winter, Richie's voice comes in my head accusing me of things, and now after Winter's accident on Friday, I can tell his voice is in her head, too, whenever she looks at me." 

Eddie and Richie's first fight happened the night before Henry's funeral...

_"YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH WINTER SINCE YOU WERE A KID! YOU'VE BEEN JUST WAITING FOR HENRY TO DIE SO YOU CAN MOVE IN ON HER!" Richie shouted in a drunken stupor._

_"HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!" Eddie shouted, nearly in tears, "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! AT LEAST I'M TRYING TO COMFORT HER! YOU HAVEN'T SAID MORE THAN TWO WORDS TO HER SINCE HE DIED! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE HELPING HER?!"_

_"R-R-Richie, tomorrow's the f-f-funeral! You need to stop!" Bill backed Richie away from Eddie, "Y-You can't s-say th-things like this when ev-everyone is mourning!"_

_Mike backed up Eddie; "Listen, he's really drunk, and he doesn't know how to handle Henry dying during his mid-life crisis."_

_Eddie pointed over Mike's shoulder towards Richie as Mike backed him away; "I'M TIRED OF HIM BLAMING THIS MID-LIFE CRISIS BULLSHIT WHEN HE TREATS ME LIKE SHIT! HE'S BEEN ON MY CASE FOR MONTHS, PUTTING LIES IN EVERYONE'S HEADS!"_

_Richie took a swig of his whiskey bottle, "Oh, cry me a river! Everyone fucking sees how you look at Winter! I'm sure even Henry could see how you looked at Winter all these years!"_

"So you want to try and separate Richie's voice in your head from your authentic feelings for each other," she paraphrased. "Do you have any idea why Richie has been putting these thoughts in your heads?" 

I shrugged -- beats me really -- He's been weird for the past two years. 

"He says he's been having a mid-life crisis. He quit comedy for a little while and wanted to pursue other types of careers or hobbies before Henry died, which has only really lasted for months at a time, because most of his new career choices were ridiculous--" Like becoming a rapper "-- I know Winter knows more about what's been happening with him, since the two of them would hang out whenever Richie would visit Derry from L.A.. He always wanted to go out with Winter to talk about his life, especially since I would mostly hang out with Henry... I don't know, but I think Richie confides in Winter about stuff in his life. He doesn't talk about his personal life with anyone else other than Winter." I sighed when I mentioned, "After Henry died, and Bill, Richie and I saw him in the body-bag, that's when whatever is happening with Richie got worse, and he would just hate on me all the time." 

_The coroner quickly looked around the outside of the Bowers property that morning, to make sure no one was around before she unzipped the bag, so Richie, Bill and Eddie could see their deceased friend that they went to visit that morning knowing he was sick. They didn't expect him to be passed by the time they showed up that morning._

_They were all in disbelief to Henry being in that bag when he had only celebrated his fiftieth birthday only a few weeks ago and was in great health and spirit._

I shook my head as I remembered looking at my friends lifeless face in the bag. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful in his forever sleep, but it was a moment that I will never be able to wipe from my memory. 

I sighed and gently put my fingers to the bridge of my bruised nose as I thought about it; "And now I'm in love with his wife..." 

Here I go again making myself feel guilty.

"You know, Eddie... Aside from what your friend, Richie, had said to you regarding his opinion on you and Winter becoming close, death of a loved one can bring people together. I don't think you should let your friend make you feel guilty about it." 

I raised my hand in the air, as I explained, "I think I can eventually make his voice go away, but I'm worried about Winter. We were becoming really close, and she was healing, and then when I was about to tell her that I was falling in love with her, Richie did what he did. Now when Winter looks at me, I know Richie's voice is in her head, too." 

"How do you think Winter feels about you?" 

I turned my head to the side as I thought about it; "I think she feels the same way when we're together, but she won't say anything about her feelings, because she's still mourning over Henry --" I looked at her to clarify my feelings over that "-- Which is completely understandable! I can't assume when she will be able to tell me if she has feelings. I'm still hurting over Henry's death, but her pain is just unimaginable." 

"What makes you think that she has the same feelings for you as you do for her?" 

A small smile appeared on my face; "The night before her accident, I kissed her in the pouring rain..."

_Eddie parted his lips while they were dancing (their faces had been resting on each other's as they slowly danced in the rain), and Winter's upper lip fell in-between his lips._

_The moisture from the rain running down their faces made the kiss very sensual as the cold raindrops hit their warm skin. They kissed slowly, as their lips would kiss each other, and then their lips would open together at moments, and the feeling of inhaling each others breath was Tantric._

"...The way she kissed me back was just unbelievably magical and loving... It felt like our lips belonged together and were longing for each other for so long..." I gently pursed my lips, before I brought up, "There's lots of dreams I have, too, since Henry died, where I'm in a relationship with Winter, but it's very complicated... I think Henry is dead in the dreams, but I'm still married, and we argue a lot in them..." My smile faded even more, "Besides the dreams, things would be different between me and Winter today if Richie didn't say what he said to her last week... What he did is unforgivable." 

Doctor Williams nodded to all my rambling as she took notes; "How would you feel if Winter were to move on with another man she met, and began dating him?" 

I paused. 

Why would she ask me that? I don't know how to answer that... Winter moving on with another man when I would do anything for her and give her the world? 

I looked up to Doctor Williams and stuttered at the question as a tear formed when I thought about it, "W-Why would you ask me that?" 

"I'm here to challenge your mind, Eddie. I can see that question triggered you. Why did it trigger you?" 

I looked down at my hands, as I let a tear run down my bruised cheek. 

I looked back up to her and said sadly; "That would break my heart..." I sniffled, and said, "I spent almost everyday visiting Henry and Winter for eighteen years, after I started my new business and moved out of their house, right before they had their twins, Kyle and Jamie --" (A boy and girl) "-- I watched the kids grow up, and I've always felt apart of the family. Even before Henry died, he taught me how to fix things around the house..." I wiped the tears away from my face; "And, what -- A random dude starts dating Winter, and then I don't go over to visit her and her kids anymore, and this new guy can fix the things I volunteer to fix for her? All because there's a new guy?" I looked at Doctor Williams with red eyes; "That would be the most heartbreaking thing to happen to me... I love and care for Winter so much... I can't imagine my life without her." 

Feeling satisfied of the emotions being spoken from me over the question that triggered me, she moved on; "Where does this story start?" 

I thought about her question as the years were rolling back in my head; "I guess my new life started when I was discharged from the hospital after my kidney surgery in 2012, but it really begins right before Henry's death." 

Doctor Williams nodded, "We'll start there..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note about Chapter 3... Chapter 3 discusses issues that might be triggering to some people: Mid-life crisis', The mental effects of keeping your true feelings and true-self hidden for years, The process of grieving over a loved one, and attempted suicide.
> 
> Just so everyone knows, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Richie, and I love Reddie, but this is clearly not a Reddie love story! But if you love James Ransone (Eddie Kaspbrak) and Henry Bowers (whichever version you picture *I picture Jarred Blanchard*), and want to know how I picture a huge falling out over Eddie and Richie due to hidden feelings surfacing, then come join into my crazy mind of all this craziness I've been writing about since December 2019 lol! ENJOY!!!!


	49. CH. 3/PT. 2: The Losers Club & The Bowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

** **

** Monday May 19, 2031 -- Eddie (Con't...) **

"So, Eddie, I have an assignment for you and Winter during this month that I don't think either of you will really like, but it will help you both figure out your feelings for each other while getting rid of the thoughts Richie had put into your minds..." Doctor Williams started. 

"I'm open to anything..." I sighed, "I just want Winter and me to move forward with all of this." 

"I think you need to separate yourself, which means all communication, from Winter and her kids for a month..." Once she said that, my face dropped; "And stay away, avoid all communication from Richie for... let's say... three months..." 

I could feel my heart falling into my stomach. I raised my hand in the air as I spoke, "Separate from Richie -- great! I am all for that! I don't want to see him again! But asking me to separate from Winter and her kids? I don't want to do that. Ever." 

"Eddie, I know it's difficult, but distance makes the heart grow fonder, and it will help the both of you separate your feelings from Henry's passing and from Richie's voice in your heads..."

I put my hands over my face and began tapping the heel of my foot to the ground with anxiety as I sat there. God, the way I was reacting was as if Winter and the kids were my family for the past eighteen years... Well, they were, and Henry was my brother. My mom died fifteen years ago, and I had no siblings. The Bowers were really my close and only family since my divorce.

"We will discuss this again at the end of the session, and I will bring it up to Winter when I meet her later this afternoon for her session..." she made a note in her book about it. 

I took my hands away from my face and looked at her with anxiety in my eyes. I put the idea aside so we could continue on with the rest of the session. There was still a lot to go through on this first day.

Doctor Williams looked down at her notes from what I told her; "So you say that one thing that Richie doesn't like is that your confidence and personality changed throughout the years after becoming best friends with Henry and Winter... How do you think they influenced you to become a changed person?" 

I knew the answer right away; "When I lived with them for a year in 2012-2013, Winter helped me get off all of my medications that I've been taking since I was a kid. After I got off all of them, I felt less brain fog, more healthy, and my neuroticism and paranoia about getting sick disappeared. Just having her around to laugh at my jokes also helped me with my confidence..." I stopped and smiled before I said, "And the way she always smiled at me, or listened and cared about what I had to say, just made me feel like I was important."

"And how did Henry help you?" 

I softly smiled, "It sounds silly, but Winter always made me feel like a man, but Henry showed me how to do man things." 

A memory of when I was living with Henry and Winter in 2012 flashed in my mind. 

Henry had come home from work on this one day when I was still unemployed, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life living in Derry. I was at the house alone that day when the dishwasher wasn't working properly, so I called a repair man to come over:

 _Henry walked into the kitchen to a man working on his dishwasher._

_"Why did you hire someone to fix the dishwasher?" Henry asked Eddie._

_"Because it broke..." Eddie said. "Don't worry, I'll pay for it."_

_Henry nodded comically at Eddie's smart-ass response, "Alright... How about fixing it yourself? Have you ever fixed things around your house before?"_

_Eddie stared at him blankly; "I just call service people, they come over, and I give them money."_

_Henry bursted out laughing, "Yeah, it's nice to have money, but it's better to have skills. Next time something breaks, I'll show you how to fix it yourself. You'll save a bunch of money, too."_

"So Henry teaching you how to be practical around your own home gave you the feeling of being a real man?" Doctor Williams asked. 

"Yeah... I know it sounds silly, but just knowing that I can fix things -- anything -- now with my own two hands makes me feel like a million bucks." I nodded to her as I went on, "It makes me feel like a man when I know, if Winter needs something fixed, I can fix it for her myself. Plus, playing basketball with Henry, and not having my ex-wife feeding me her toxic thoughts anymore, really helped me gain confidence in myself."

Doctor Williams lightly smiled as she took down notes. She asked, "When did you come up with your business idea?" 

I took a moment to think when everything with the business actually started to happen; "I think it was right after Winter and Henry got pregnant in 2012... I decided I wanted to create my own store with all mine, Richie, Bill and Stan's favourite things as teenagers (comic books, cards, games, action figures) into one place. I called Bill and Richie on a Zoom call, and asked them if they wanted to be partners with me in my store idea. They agreed to it, invested with me, and we created our store, 'The Losers Club'. Bill and Richie didn't want to leave their full-time careers in entertainment in California, so we decided that I would work at the store full-time and build it up with new ideas, and they would fly into Derry a few times a year to help out in the store..." 

I thought more about the store idea with my two friends; "After we got our store on Main Street, right across from Henry's Mechanic Shop, the three of us invested in a home that I would live in full-time, and it would be their vacation house. So, it's mostly my house, but the two of them can come and go as they please." 

Doctor Williams nodded, "Before we go into the beginning of Richie's downward spiral and Henry's unfortunate death, what is the last memory you have when everything was _'normal'_?" 

"God... That would have been forever ago... Maybe a few weeks before Richie started having a crazy identity crisis, which was over two months before Henry's death..."

** Monday March 11, 2030 **

"Oh, shit!" Richie exclaimed, "The box of the latest Losers Club comics came today!" He lifted the box and set it on the counter. 

"L-Let's see h-how they look!" Bill said excitedly, as Richie opened the box up with his pocket knife. 

As Eddie was sorting through the inventory of new Magic the Gathering cards, he looked over to Richie excitedly placing the comics on the counter; "Great! We can release them on the stands tomorrow!" 

Richie lifted one of the comics to show everyone the cover: 

In big horror-style font at the top read: **THE LOSERS CLUB!**

On the cover was comic pictures of teenage Eddie, Stan, Bill, Ben, Bev, Mike and Richie. Also standing further away was teenage Winter and Henry. This months newest issue of The Losers Club was called, _"Ben and The Egg Boy"._

The idea of the comic book the three of them created, with the help of Mike, Bev, Ben, Henry and Winter, was about taking everything that happened to them when Pennywise was haunting them as kids and make it all into a bigger story; Each individual story filling up a whole comic issue. They were going to keep making new issues until they finally kill Pennywise when they're adults. 

The three of them created the comic book idea nearly three years ago when Eddie brought up how it would be a good idea, and it would really bring the public to the game store. For two days, every month for the past three years, Bill, Eddie and Richie would Zoom call each other and discuss what the new issue would be about. Bill, being the writer, would write the comics. They hired an outside comic book artist to create the illustrations. The comic book exploded in Maine, bringing lots of attention to Derry. 

"Can you believe the fandom that our comics created?" Eddie asked, "You know that social media platform, TikTok? There's fans that fucking cosplay as us, guys! It's insane!"

Richie raised an eyebrow at Eddie; "You have a TikTok account? You're like forty-eight..." 

Eddie rolled his eyes, "I need to advertise the store, genius! So, you know, we can have business and sales?"

"Ooooooooh!" Richie nodded, "Right, right, right, right!" he said very quickly, sounding similar to a Jim Carrey character. 

"H-How was your d-date last night, Eddie?" Bill asked. 

"Wait..." Richie scrunched his face, "You had another date? Is this one going to last more than just the first date?" 

Awkwardly, Eddie scratched his eyebrow, "Um... yeah... I realized last night that there was no connection." 

"Dude! How come you never make it through the first date? What the hell? When's the last time you even got laid?" Richie inquired. 

Eddie laid down some Magic cards; "Look, man; I know what I want when I have a first kiss with a woman. If the connection that I'm looking for is not there, I don't bother moving forward." 

"Damn, dude..." Richie shook his head, "There is no such thing as a connection during a first kiss. Trust me. It takes more than one kiss to build a connection." 

Eddie softly smiled at Richie; "Yeah, there is such a thing! I've experienced it before when I was younger."

_When she laid her soft lips on his, he continued to hold her hand closer to his heart, almost as if he wanted her to feel his heartbeat on her palm as they kissed. He kissed her with all the passion that he had inside of him, and he placed his free hand to the side of her neck, bringing her closer as they softly alternated kissing from lower lip to upper lip. All the care and love for each other was felt in this one kiss._

He never told anyone about that kiss in the operating room, and him and Winter never talked about it, but he wondered if she sometimes thought about it when she looked at him. If there was no similar feeling of kissing a woman's lips that could make him feel the love, care and connection he felt on that day with Winter, during that kiss, then there was no point in pursuing going forward after a first date. 

Bill smiled; "H-He just knows what he w-wants, Richie." 

"I can tell you exactly what Eddie wants!" Richie began, "Around five-fourish, brown hair, a year and a half older than him, hour-glass slender build, dreamy look in the eyes..."

Eddie rolled his eyes, knowing that Richie was describing Winter; "Ha ha!" he sarcastically laughed, "I get it! I get it loud and clear!" 

"Married to her high school sweetheart, has two teenagers..."

"I think w-we get it, Rich," Bill said. 

"Has a boob job..."

Both Eddie and Bill trembled and dropped everything they were holding to the ground at Richie's last point.

All the cards Eddie was holding were scattered on the floor, as well as Bill's water bottle. 

"WHAT?!" both Eddie and Bill looked surprised towards Richie with their lips parted open in shock. 

Good thing that the shop was usually quiet on Mondays, and there were no customers yet.

Richie looked at both of them, and said nonchalantly, "What? You guys didn't know that?" He looked at Eddie, "You see her like almost everyday, and you didn't realize that she had a boob job? Henry never told you she got a package with a boob job and a tummy tuck?" 

"No!" Eddie said, still surprised, "One; I don't think Henry would tell me that! Also; How do you know this?" 

She was already the image of perfection to Eddie.

"Uh, dude..." Richie said with a _'duh_ ' expression and tone, "Every time I come to Derry, me and her go out for dinner, so I can tell her about my awesome amazing life. She also tells me about her awesome amazing life. I tell her personal stuff, she sometimes tells me personal stuff. And, so what? She had twins and wanted work done before she hits fifty. Winter's always wanted to have the hot-mom bod. If she were to ever have a mid-life crisis, it would probably be over her body, so she decided to get her boobs done. No judgement from me. I told her to _'power on, sister!_ '" He ended with a small fist pump to the ceiling.

Bill and Eddie looked at each other in surprise and disbelief to Richie's long explanation. 

"D-Did she show th-them to you?" Bill asked, still flabbergasted. 

"THERE'S NO WAY SHE SHOWED RICHIE!" Eddie exclaimed very comically, but he could feel himself becoming anxious as he wondered if Richie did see them, which made him feel a bit jealous. 

Richie shook his head, "No, but she did hold them together for me and popped her chest out when she was wearing a tight tank top so I could see the difference." 

Eddie stared with his mouth slightly dropped open to this news; "Why is she telling you this stuff!? When did she get them done!?" 

"Like, four years ago, dude..." Richie didn't answer the first question; He knew that Winter only would tell him and show him this stuff, because she knew that he was gay and wouldn't be interested. 

Eddie could sense how not interested Richie was over the topic but kept answering the questions as they came along. 

Bill scratched the top of his head, "S-So are they b-bigger?" 

Richie shook his head, "Not really... I guess they are a little bit since the picnic table days..."

 _Oh, my God... The picnic table days!_ both Eddie and Bill thought.

"She just wanted them to be more lifted and firmer. I don't know why you guys are basically drooling and having boners over this; Having kids can fuck up the body, especially twins, and she just wanted to work on herself. Only Henry's allowed to see them, touch them, twist and suck on them, so you guys can put your tents back down."

Bill and Eddie exchanged a look that read, _Why did he have to add the 'twist and suck on them' part?_

Eddie began to say, "I just think it's crazy that she would tell yo--"

The front door of the store opened, and in came seventeen-year-old Kyle Bowers.

Bill, Richie and Eddie composed themselves and dropped the previous conversation, and just continued working on the tasks they were doing before the topic of Winter's breasts got brought up. 

All three of them smiled over to Kyle Bowers, who looked exactly like a younger version of his dad; dark brown hair, intense piercing blue eyes with an intense stare, around five-seven, and dressed in band t-shirts and ripped jeans. The only difference between him and his parents was he kind of spoke in a mono-toned voice, but he spoke a lot. 

"Hi, Ky!" Bill and Richie greeted with a smile. 

"Hey, Ky, is school done already?" Eddie asked as he shuffled his deck of Magic The Gathering cards. 

Although Kyle looked like his dad, his personality was more outgoing like his mom; "Yeah, like an hour ago..." He walked over to the side of the counter where Eddie was and stood on the other side of him; "I built a new Magic deck last night, and I wanted to know if you would help me test it out?" 

"Yeah, man!" Eddie smiled, "What lands are you working with?" 

He set down his backpack and looked for his new deck; "Red and black!" he answered excitedly to test it out. 

"Ouf!" Richie commented, "You're going to cream Eddie! He always goes for the green and red lands." 

Kyle let out a small laugh, hoping he could beat everyone with his new deck he built the night before. He had spent hours in his bedroom trying to think of all the cards he could add to the deck to finally beat Eddie. 

As Eddie and Kyle took out their dice and play mats and shuffled their decks, Kyle looked over to Richie and Bill; "Are you guys all back in Derry for my mom's birthday this weekend? It's her fiftieth." 

"Y-Yeah, is your d-dad throwing her a big p-party?" Bill asked as he went through helping Richie sort out the comic books. 

Kyle shrugged, "Dad and Eddie are planning it. It's supposed to be all of you guys, plus Mike, Bev and Ben... I think my aunt and uncle... I don't know if any of her work friends are coming."

"It's a surprise, though," Eddie added. 

"Yeah, don't say anything to my mom," he said as he began drawing his cards; Eddie followed suit. 

"I'm sure your mom is not suspecting a party for such a milestone age like fifty at all, anyways," Richie said sarcastically, but comically. He knew she was, of course, suspecting something. 

As Eddie and Kyle began playing, Kyle said; "I'm just going to hang out here until my dad comes to get me after he's done work." 

"That's cool, man!" Eddie smiled, "Stay as long as you want."

"Are you coming over for dinner tonight?" Kyle asked Eddie. 

Eddie looked at the creature card that Kyle put down, called _'Endless Whispers',_ as he went through his own hand, and answered, "Uh, yeah! There's a basketball game on tonight your dad and me are going to watch. You're welcome to join." 

"Yeah, I might just do that..."

Richie hit Bill on the arm to get his attention, and rolled his eyes at Bill over Eddie watching basketball. Bill stared at Richie, not caring about what Eddie was into. 

However, it was no surprise that Eddie was going over to The Bowers to watch a game, since Eddie and Henry bonded over watching basketball and playing ball on The Bowers driveway for many years; They even went to a few live games before during the years. It still seemed weird for Richie to see such an interest and confidence change in Eddie since he restarted his life after leaving Myra compared to who he was as a teenager. Eddie also worked out with Henry, played ball, his laugh was louder, his smile was brighter, he was off all his medications that he never actually needed, and he knew how to talk to people more confidently. He was looking better with age as he would periodically grow out stubbles on his face and neck and jelled back his hair to the side. He was also lean and had tone in his arms -- his whole body seemed toned. His forehead and laugh lines were very adorable to most people who he beamed his smile at, especially when his deep dimples would show.

Richie continued to sort through comic books as he listened to Eddie and Kyle's conversation.

Kyle said, "I made the Derry basketball team today." 

Eddie looked at him and beamed a smile, "That's awesome, Ky!" 

Kyle smiled, "Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's for the summer playoffs at the Derry Arena." He put down his red spell card, _'Force of Rage',_ and looked at Eddie, who was glancing from the cards on the mats to smiling at Kyle, "You're the first person I've told. I'm going to tell my dad when I see him. He's going to be super psyched." 

Eddie put down his green creature card, _'Soul of The Harvest'_ ; "Your dad was on the basketball team all throughout high school. He's going to be really happy to hear that you got onto the community team." 

"You can come and watch some of my games if you want to," Kyle said. 

"Yeah, of course I'll come to some of your games!" Eddie smiled. 

Richie rolled his eyes. 

When the door to the store opened, Richie, Eddie and Bill looked over to see who was coming in, as Kyle continued to look through all his cards. 

Two teenage boys came through the door; maybe around sixteen-years-old. Both of them had brown hair, but one of them was short and skinny, and the other boy was tall and lanky. 

"Your farts smell like you eat too much sulphur, Greg! It's probably not healthy! You're probably allergic to sulphur! You got to be careful about what you eat, or you might shit out your whole colon!" said the tall lanky boy.

Eddie, Bill and Richie's eyes went wide to the weird conversation the boys were having. 

"Hey, look! It's Bowers!" the short skinny one said (Greg). He went running up to Kyle and the lanky tall boy followed behind him; "Ky, you play Magic?!" 

"Yep!" Kyle answered as he looked through his hand. 

"I didn't know you played!" Greg said, "That's so cool! Travis, did you know he played?" 

"Stop kissing his ass, Greg!" the lanky tall boy said (Travis). "You're obviously annoying him while he's trying to concentrate!" 

"No, he's not. It's cool," Kyle said, still looking down at his cards. 

"Greg, come look at the new board games!" Travis went hurrying over to the game section of the store. 

"See you later, Ky!" Greg said before joining Travis. 

"Later!" Ky said. 

Bill, Eddie and Richie all exchanged a look, thinking the two kids were obnoxious just like how Eddie and Richie were in high school. Even the way Kyle talked to them, reminded them of Henry talking to the two of them in high school. 

"Are those friends of yours?" Eddie asked. 

Kyle shook his head, "No... They're a year under me. They're kind of annoying." 

Again, the three adults exchanged a look. 

Kyle and Eddie continued to play game after game of Magic, as Bill and Richie sorted through merchandise. The two boys (Travis and Greg) were talking in the back where the board games were, but they were too far into the store for anyone to understand what they were saying; It sounded more like mumbling to the front of the store. 

When the front door opened, Bill, Richie and Eddie looked over to the door. 

Walked in Henry Bowers. 

He was in his winter jacket. He looked similar to when he was still in his thirties; He only had a few lines on his face and he always continued to keep his dark brown hair short. 

"Hey, Henry!" greeted Richie, Bill and Eddie. 

Henry nodded at all of them, "Hey!" He walked over to Kyle and stood beside him, "Hey, bud!" 

Kyle quickly looked at his dad before looking back at his cards; "Hey, dad!" 

"Who's winning?" he asked his son. 

"I beat Eddie three times so far," Kyle said happily with a small laugh. His laugh was similar to Henry's. 

The only time Henry would belt out a huge laugh was when he was laughing about something with Eddie or Winter. Both Henry and Eddie could be loud together, laughing about something they found funny. 

"Yeah, he's smoking me!" Eddie commented. 

Henry quickly looked at Kyle's hand of cards, and nodded impressed. He gave Eddie a look that read that he already knew that his son was going to beat Eddie at the current game they were playing. 

Henry leaned on his arms on the counter, and looked at Kyle, "Did you make the team? I've been waiting to know all day!" 

Eddie softly smiled as he looked at Kyle waiting for him to tell Henry the news. 

Kyle smiled, "Yeah, I did!" he said happily. 

Henry beamed a smile and patted his son on the back, "That's amazing! We're going to have to celebrate tonight!" 

Eddie smiled at the happiness on Henry's face. 

"I was going to text you to tell you, but I thought it would be cooler to do it in person," Kyle said as he put down a red spell, _'Searing Spear'_ , on Eddie's creature. 

Henry nudged at Kyle's shoulder excitedly, and then smiled happily at Eddie; "Did you hear that, man?! The Derry Basketball Team!" 

Eddie smiled, "Yeah, I think it's awesome! He's going to have to join us for a game on the driveway when the snow clears up."

Richie rolled his eyes again and mocked Eddie quietly. 

"It's supposed to clear up by the weekend!" Henry smiled, "We can all have a game then!" As Kyle and Eddie continued to play, Henry looked over to Bill and Richie who were still silently sorting through things; "How are you guys doing? You're here for the weekend for Winter's birthday, right?" 

Bill looked up, "Y-Yeah, we're both m-moved in with Eddie for th-the week." 

Kyle looked from Eddie to Bill and Richie, "When you guys all live together when the two of you come visit Derry, are you like the three guys from Full House?" 

Henry bursted out laughing at the question, as Kyle chuckled a little laugh.

"That's a good one," Henry laughed. 

Richie, Bill and Eddie looked at each other. 

"I'm surprised you even know about that show, kid," Richie said. 

"I guess I'm Danny Tanner," Eddie said, "I'm the cleanest." 

"And the most annoying..." Richie added, "Obviously I'd be Joey. I guess that makes Bill Uncle Jesse."

"J-John Stamos? I-I'm cool with th-that," he laughed. 

When the door opened again, two more teenage boys walked in, and a girl around the same age entered the store. The two boys were talking loudly about D&D as they entered the store, ignoring Bill, Richie, Eddie, Henry and Kyle. 

Now that the store was full of loud teenagers, Bill, Eddie, Richie, Kyle and Henry remained quiet as they listened, and Eddie and Kyle continued to play, as Henry watched the game between the two of them. 

The two other boys, Travis and Greg, knew the kids that had just walked in and greeted them at the front of the store where the comic books were. 

"My mom doesn't want to have sex with you, asshole!" Greg said to Travis, "My mom doesn't have sex!" 

"Of course she doesn't have sex!" Travis said obnoxiously, "After you came out of her vagina, she took one look at you, and thought, _'I'm never taking the cock again!'_ " 

Richie bursted out laughing at the comment, thinking he should have said that one to Eddie. 

Eddie looked at the two boys with a perplexed look. This was all beginning to look too familiar. 

"What are you guys doing?" Travis asked the new group that had come in. 

One of the boys, with black hair, said, "We're going to The Barrens. My dad said there's a treasure buried somewhere there. He has a map, and we're going to look for it!" 

Bill looked at him, thinking that sounded like him as a teenager.

"The only treasure that's buried out of site is my cock in my pants!" said Travis. 

Henry turned his head from his leaning position on the counter, and looked at the group of kids, as he was finding they sounded very familiar, as well. 

"Hey, Stacy!" Greg ran up to the girl who came with the group; She had dark brown hair, dressed kind of punk, and looked very sweet. 

"Hi, Greg," she said sweetly, "How are you?" 

"I'm good!" he smiled and blushed, "You know... I was thinking that... if you wanted to go to the music store tomorrow, I'll go with you." 

"Yeah, that would be okay," she nodded. 

Eddie put down his red creature card, _'Academy Raider'_ , and said, "Your turn, Ky." 

Eddie flipped through his cards as he waited for Kyle to make his move. 

Henry waited to see Kyle's next move as he looked down at the card mat. 

"Ky?" Eddie looked up at Kyle, and Henry looked to his son. 

Kyle was turned around, staring intensely at the girl all the boys were calling Stacy. 

He looked like he was in love. 

Henry, Eddie, Richie and Bill exchanged looks to each other. 

"I know that look!" Richie said as he stared at Kyle. 

"Stacy!" Greg began saying from the comic books; "Stacy!?" 

Stacy was looking at Kyle, sweetly and shyly, smiling.

"Hey, Ky..." Stacy greeted sweetly, getting trapped in his eyes. 

"Hey, Stacy..." Kyle responded like he was in love. 

"Stacy, I want to show you something!" Greg said.

"Dude, she doesn't care that you think she looks like Wonder Woman!" Travis said to Greg. "She's got all eyes on Bowers!" 

Greg's face fell with a frown, and he slowly turned back around to the comics.

Eddie couldn't help but feel sad for the Greg kid. 

_"Winter, you're like Wonder Woman! You're WWW; Winter the Wonder Woman!" Eddie._

_Winter let out a giggle before Henry snuck up behind her and wrapped her in his arms from behind. He placed a sweet kiss on her cheek._

_"Dude, you're so lame!" Richie said to Eddie._

Kyle and Stacy continued to gaze at each other, as the adults continued to shifty-eye to each other around the room; They all felt super familiar to all this, and somewhat awkward, as Kyle and her continued to smile and stare at each other without talking. 

Travis walked up to Richie, "Can we go upstairs to the game room and play one of the board games?" 

"Yeah, go ahead!" Richie said to the kid he found funny with a smile. 

"Thanks!" he said to Richie; He turned to the whole group and said quickly, "GUYS! UPSTAIRS! NO TIME TO WASTE!"

The group of boys followed Travis as he began to run upstairs. 

"What's the hurry, asshole?" Greg asked.

"I gotta get to your house soon to give your mom a good ol' fisting!" he said as they walked upstairs. "STACY, STOP FLIRTING WITH BOWERS!"

Richie bursted out laughing again. 

Stacy blushed and smiled at Kyle one last time, "I'll see you at school tomorrow?" 

"You better..." he said shyly, but trying his best to flirt. 

Henry's eyes went wide with a smile, surprised at what his son said. He remembered saying something like that to Winter when they were teenagers and not dating yet. 

As Kyle turned back around to the game, Henry nudged him; "Why don't you ask her out?" 

"Yeah!" Richie said, "You look at her like how your dad looked at your mom in high school!"

"I still look at Winter like that!" Henry laughed. 

"That whole interaction was really bizarre..." Eddie commented, still reflecting on how much he tried to win Winter's attention and affection when they were in high school, but her eyes and heart only saw and wanted Henry. 

Kyle smiled and blushed as his dad kept nudging him and telling him to ask her out. 

"I don't really know what to say to her, though..." Kyle said. 

"You just keep talking, ask her questions about herself, and just show an interest. You obviously are interested," Henry softly smiled. 

"Yeah... But... I don't know..." Kyle said, shyly. 

Although Eddie felt bad for the Greg kid that reminded him of himself as a kid, he still wanted to help Kyle, since he watched the guy grow up, and he wanted to see him happy like how his dad was, and still is, with Winter; "Let me give you some advice that I learned in business school..." 

Richie, Bill, Henry and Kyle looked at Eddie interestedly. 

"When you want people to give you answers about their lives, other than just yes or no answers, you have to ask them questions beginning with the letters W.H.; _'What do you like to do?', 'Why do you enjoy that hobby?', 'Where do you like to hang out?', 'Who do you hang out with?'_ " Eddie said to Kyle, "I'm telling you; All conversations start with the W.H. questions."

Henry smiled at Eddie for the advice, and then smiled at Kyle; "There you go! It sounds easy enough, right?" 

Kyle thought about it; "Yeah, that seems really easy." 

Richie joked, "He knows what he's talking about, Kyle! As you can see, Eddie hasn't had a girlfriend since his wife, and he can't get past a first date with anyone, so that strategy is working out very well for him!" 

Bill and Henry laughed. 

Jokingly, Eddie flipped Richie off. 

Henry looked at the time on his phone, and then looked at Kyle and gave him a pat on the shoulder; "We should get going, buddy. Mom's making dinner, and we still need to pick up Jamie from the library." 

"Okay, dad," Kyle said before packing up his Magic stuff. "Thanks for helping me test my new deck, Eddie." 

"Anytime, man!" Eddie began packing up his own deck. 

"We'll see you guys later!" Henry said to Bill and Richie, who gave them a small wave of their hands and a smile. Henry looked at Eddie, "I'll see you tonight, bro! Don't be too late for dinner, or you'll be hearing it from Winter." 

Eddie bursted out laughing; "Duly noted!" 

"Bye, guys!" Kyle waved to Bill and Richie before him and Henry left out the door. 

At The Bowers house later on that evening, Henry, Winter, Kyle and Jamie Bowers were all sitting at the dining room table where they all usually had dinner together. Henry and Winter sat at the heads of the table, where Henry's mom and dad use to sit years ago when Winter would visit the family for dinner. Kyle sat on one side and Jamie sat on the other side. Right next to Jamie was an empty chair where Eddie would usually occupy if he was coming over for dinner. 

The bowls and pans of food sat in the middle of the table, where they could all scoop out how much everyone wanted of each type of food that was sitting there. 

Winter was about to start eating when she looked at Jamie sitting next to Henry. She said, "Hon, I know you love reading, but no reading during dinner." 

Jamie took her bookmark and placed it in the spot in her book and rested it beside her plate. 

Jamie looked like a mix of Henry and Winter with her long brown hair, porcelain white skin, circular face and blue eyes. Winter was the only one in the family with brown eyes, but all the kids inherited Henry's piercing blue eyes. Jamie's style was very casual, as she loved listening to music from the 2018-2025 era, and her favourite singer was Billie Eilish. She loved Billie's clothing style, too. Her personality was more like Henry in high school; laid-back, introverted and a bookworm. 

"Reading's for dorks!" Kyle picked on his sister. 

"And Magic The Gathering makes you so cool, right?" Jamie shot back. "At least I'm musical!"

Kyle shifty-eyed around the room; "I play sports! So what's your point?" 

Henry looked back and forth from his two bickering teenagers, "Can we just agree that you're both nerds with cool hobbies?" 

Winter let out a laugh as she put food on her plate. 

Kyle and Jamie both shrugged. 

"I'm still cooler than him..." Jamie said quietly before taking a bite of her food. 

Winter looked over to Henry sitting across from her, waiting to get his attention. 

When Henry looked over to her, she had a small smile on her lips and flirty eyes. He could tell by her look at him that she was trying to tell him that she wanted to make love with him tonight. Henry responded to that look by smiling and lifting his eyebrows up and down at her quickly. They always communicated with their eyes about having sex whenever the kids were around, as they never caught on to the looks, and Henry and Winter weren't going to say it out-loud with them around. 

"Did Ky tell you the good news?" Henry asked Winter excitedly. 

"No..." she smiled at her son, "What's this good news I need to hear?" 

"Tell her!" Henry smiled at him before taking a fork-full of potatoes. 

Kyle looked from his dad to his mom; Jamie had already heard the news from one of her friends at school, so she didn't really care to get involved. 

"I made the Derry basketball team!" he smiled, "I get to be a guard, and I get to play this summer!" 

"That's great, Ky!" Winter beamed a very proud smile. She looked at Henry, "That's what you were, right, babe? A guard?"

Henry nodded, "Yep! I'll make sure you're a pro before you hit the court this summer." 

The sound of the back door opened in the kitchen, and everyone immediately knew it was Eddie who came into the house. 

Eddie came into the dining room with a smile, happy to see everyone. 

"Hey, Eddie!" said Jamie, Kyle and Henry.

"Hey, Edz!" Winter smiled at him. 

"Hey, everyone!" Eddie said very happily to see everyone. 

He was holding a plastic bag in his hand, and before he sat down beside Jamie and Winter, he pulled out a sealed Magic the Gathering Card. 

"Ky, I found this while I was doing inventory. I was going to send it back to our distributor, because it's faulty, so I can't sell it in the store..." he went over to Kyle, and showed him the back of the card; "Do you see right there? That's a water-mark. So it's a faulty card that can't be sold in the store, but if you ever wanted to sell it to an independent buyer, they will pay extra for it since it's extremely rare to find a faulty card." 

Kyle's eyes went wide; "NO WAY!" he exclaimed; Jamie rolled her eyes at his dorkiness; "This is a Black Lotus card! These are worth a fortune!" 

Eddie smiled at his enthusiasm, "It is! Now put double on that price just because of that water-mark on it!" 

"WOW! Thanks, Eddie!" Kyle showed Henry the water-mark on the card; "Look at that, dad!" 

Henry took the card and looked at the water-mark; "That's cool! Make sure to keep it safe!" 

Jamie looked at Eddie as he went to her side of the table. 

Knowing Jamie was waiting for something for her, Eddie stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a confused look; "What? What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?" 

Jamie gave him a look that read, _'Really?'_

Eddie bursted out in a big laugh over her expression. He sat next to her and gave her the newest issue of 'The Losers Club' comic book; "These aren't going to be out for sale until tomorrow. Here's the first copy of this issue -- the first issue right off the press!" 

"SCORE!" Jamie smiled happily; She looked at Kyle, "Way cooler than a silly card!" 

"Jamie, I don't think you understand how much of a fortune this card is!" Kyle said. 

"I get the first issue of my favourite comic book, which stars mom and dad!" she stuck her tongue out at him. She looked over to Eddie and smiled, "Thanks, Uncle Eddie! You're awesome!" 

Eddie smiled, "No problem!" He quickly looked at Henry and Winter one at a time. 

"That's so sweet, Edz!" Winter smiled at him. 

"Wait, I'm not done!" he announced excitedly, "You know how Richie, Bill and I were thinking of creating our own Loser's Club pop-figures?" He continued to look from Winter to Henry with an excited expression on his face. 

Winter and Henry continued to stare at his expression as he grabbed a Winter pop-figure and gave it to her, and then pulled out a Henry pop-figure and gave it to Henry. 

"OH, MY GOD!" Winter bursted out laughing at her own pop-figure of herself as a teenager. 

Henry bursted out in explosive laughter and clapped his hands together in his laughter, loving the version of him as a teenager. 

"You got my style down to a T!" Winter laughed, as her pop-figure was wearing shorts, a pink tank top with claw marks on her stomach and wearing Henry's over-sized black hoodie. 

"This is amazing!" Henry continued to laugh. His style on his figure was the same as it was today; band t-shirts and ripped jeans. 

"What else do you have in that magical bag of yours?" Jamie asked. 

"Um..." Eddie looked in the bag, "I have my grocery receipt from when I went grocery shopping earlier today..." he looked at her after he pulled out the paper. He joked, "Would you like that?" 

"No, I'll stick with the comic book," she laughed. 

Winter looked at her pop-figure, and then looked at Eddie; "This thing is so cool! The three of you come up with the greatest, most creative, ideas! You guys should be so proud of yourselves!" 

Eddie looked at her and smiled. Just making her smile made him happy. His man-brain made him want to glance down to her covered breasts after what Richie said earlier, but he fought the urge to look at his best friends wife's chest, but the lust he always had for her since high school made him want to glance. He tried his best to keep his eyes on her face whenever he looked at her.

"I don't get it..." Kyle said, "The Losers Club comic book is based off all of you guys, but how did you come up with a made up story about a clown haunting Derry? Ghosts, killer clowns and magical turtle's aren't real! It says in the comics that mom got that claw scar on her stomach from the clown after being trapped in the sewers for three days, but it was actually from a dog when she went to the park. It also says dad was possessed by a jacket, and was a 'Chosen One' by the clown to kill you guys to save my mom?" 

Henry, Eddie and Winter all looked at each other silently for a moment to what he said. 

Henry answered, "Of course none of it's real! The three of them just have some really crazy ideas." 

Eddie smiled and nodded a very big nod; "I've got a crazy imagination, dude!" 

Winter just hoped her kids never see the scar that Arnie left on her of the three in a circle. She knew they couldn't see the scars from the glass bottle Henry threw at Ace, that ended up hitting her chest, since she had it covered up with a tattoo. Both her and Henry asked the guys not to add that to the comic book series just so Kyle and Jamie didn't look at their dad differently, even though it was an accident.

Eddie put some food on his plate, and looked excitedly at it; "Wow! This looks so good! What is this?!" 

Winter looked at his expression; It was as if he never seen a home-cooked meal before; "It's chicken, Edz..." 

"I know it's chi--" 

Henry interrupted, "And you see that white mushy stuff? Those are mashed potatoes. They're so light and fluffy; All you need is a fork to pick it up." 

"I know it's--" 

Jamie continued, "And you see those leafy green things? I hear they call those vegetables." 

Eddie put his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes tightly and began to laugh. 

"Does Joey and Jesse not feed you home-cooked meals at the Full House house?" Kyle asked. 

Eddie began laughing so much that he had tears in his eyes; "Was that like a Bowers Family roasting? Was I just roasted? Did you all rehearse that, or something, before I came here?"

Winter, Henry, Jamie and Kyle laughed at Eddie's contagious laughter. 


	50. CH.3/PT.3: Richie & Winter's New Gig

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

****

**Monday May 19, 2031 (PRESENT DAY - 1PM) -- Winter**

"Before we start, Winter, I just wanted to give you my condolences... I know you just lost your husband almost a year ago..." Doctor Williams expressed. 

I looked at her and nodded. 

I never knew what to say when someone gave me condolences. I didn't want to say, 'thank you', because there was nothing I felt thankful for. I couldn't say, 'It's okay', because it wasn't okay that my kids lost their dad so young. 

I realized that I was probably sitting on the same sofa chair that Edz was sitting on earlier that day. It felt so weird that we decided to start seeing a psychologist all because of the events that happened on Friday. 

"How have you been now that it's been almost a year since Henry's death?" she asked.

I thought I was doing okay, but I'm not sure anymore... 

Truthfully, I said, "I don't know..." 

"How were you doing before Friday?" 

I shifty-eyed around the room. Why was this so hard? Just talk, Winter!

I sighed, "I was doing better. I think I was doing better the past couple of months... It's a lot of ups and downs, though." 

"So what changed that on Friday?" 

I stared blankly at the wall; "I guess Edz told you what happened on Friday?" I asked. 

She softly smiled, "I know the two of you are doing therapy together, but since it's separate sessions, I can't disclose information..." She smiled, welcomingly; "That being said, just know that you're in a safe place to voice your feelings, and it is all confidential. Nothing you say will go back to Edz, and nothing Edz says will come back to you."

Hmm... Cool comforting trick... Calling Eddie, Edz, because that's what I call him... 

Doctor Williams thought she was going to have to take a different approach with Winter than she did with Eddie. With Eddie, she just needed to ask one question, and he would talk for minutes at a time. Winter has obviously been repressing her feelings and didn't know how to express them. 

"Tell me about your kids..." she smiled. 

I smiled softly at the question; "Ky and Jamie are both nineteen. Ky is in college for business and Jamie is in college for music theory." 

"When are their Birthdays?" 

"April 27th..." I softly smiled, "Henry's Birthday was May 3rd." 

"Oh, wow..." she smiled, "All Taurus'... Do your kids, or did Henry, resemble the Taurus zodiac?" 

I let out a tiny laugh at the question; "Yeah... My kids are stubborn... Henry was stubborn, too... But, they're definitely grounded and stable... Henry was, too. He was a homebody and just wanted to be at home with me and the kids after work." 

Doctor Williams smiled; Her different approach was working.

"Did Henry not like going on trips?" she asked curiously. 

I shrugged slightly; "Since, after we got married, we had kids right away, so we didn't travel. Since Henry's Birthday was at the beginning of summer, and Edz Birthday is at the end of summer, the two of them enjoyed going camping one weekend every summer. They would travel, sometimes, up to six hours out of state to find a good forest to camp. It would be a weekend in-between their Birthday months. They did it every summer for the past fifteen or sixteen years."

Doctor Williams smiled at my longer answer. Her new approach was starting to open me up. 

"How did Henry feel about becoming a dad?" she asked, keeping the questions about my family to keep opening me up. 

"He was really excited..."

_Winter and Henry were shopping in the grocery store after they found out that they were pregnant._

_Henry was happily throwing bars of chocolate and candy in the cart for Winter._

_He held up five bags of chips, "Which flavours do you want?"_

_"Babe, you're going to make me fat before the baby does!" Winter laughed._

She turned the conversation away from Henry, and turned it to Edz. 

"What's Edz Zodiac sign?" she asked. 

"He's a Virgo." 

She let out a laugh; "You've been surrounding yourself with a bunch of earth signs." 

I laughed at that softly. I never realized it before... I guess it was true. 

"I guess that explains the need to get out and camp in the woods," I smiled softly. "Edz is definitely a Virgo; Orderly, logical, a bit of a perfectionist, a right-brain thinker, very grounded, emotionally and financially stable..." As I thought about it more, I let out a smile at the description, "Yeah... Sounds about right. Henry and me always trusted him with the kids." 

"That's interesting that a father would trust his kids in the hands of another man. Do you know how that trust started?" she asked. 

I thought about it, and answered; "It had something to do with this one day in the fall, when I was a few months pregnant, and it was right after we found out we were having twins. Edz was living with us, and this one particular day, Edz and Henry came home after being out for nearly six hours... They never told me what they did, but I could tell that something changed between them. I think they had a good bonding experience. It was weird, though, because they came home dirty from head to toe... When I asked what they did and where they went, they never told me... I still don't know to this day what they did..."

_One brisk fall day in late-afternoon of October of 2012 (five months after Pennywise's death), Henry was playing basketball in his driveway. He was trying to clear his head as becoming a dad was starting to really hit at him, and Winter was four months pregnant. They got pregnant right after they killed Pennywise._

_Eddie came back from the store and walked up to Henry on the driveway._

_At this point, Eddie had been living with Henry and Winter for five months, and on this particular day, Winter was in the house taking a nap._

_Henry saw Eddie walking up the driveway, and he passed the ball to him; "Do you know how to play?"_

_Eddie caught the ball, and twirled it in his hands; "Um... You throw the ball into the basket."_

_Henry nodded, amused by his answer, "Well, yeah... That's a start... Give it a shot."_

_Eddie looked from the ball to the hoop. He quickly dribbled the ball, and then threw it towards the hoop._

_The ball hit the rim a couple of time, and then fell to the driveway; Henry caught the ball before it hit the ground._

_Henry threw the ball back to Eddie; "You'll want to use your right hand for your one hand follow-through, and then use your left hand as a guide." He demonstrated what he meant with his empty hands; "And micro-bend your knees before you throw the ball... It gives it a little bit of a lift-off. Don't jump too high from where you're standing."_

_Eddie watched Henry's position with his hands, and did what he was doing. He threw the ball, which went into the basket._

_Henry smiled at him before grabbing the ball and dribbling it. He threw the ball back to him; "Just keep practicing that until it's not awkward and just feels like auto-pilot." As he watched Eddie, he said, "It's cool that you're living here. I've wanted someone to play basketball with for a while. Mike use to play, but since he moved, I'm kind of on my own."_

_As Henry and Eddie started playing a little bit together on the driveway, Eddie looked to Henry, noticing that he was quiet._

_"You okay, Henry? You've been quiet lately."_

_"I'm just worried about being a dad..." he said before throwing the ball into the hoop; "I don't want to tell Winter what's really on my mind, since I don't want to stress her out."_

_Eddie ran up to the ball and dribbled; "What part of it is worrying you?" and then threw it to the hoop._

_Henry caught the ball, and held it in his hands as he looked at it. He was considering to ask Eddie something that he didn't want to do by himself, but he needed to do it or else he was going to be sick with worry for the rest of his life._

_Genuinely, looking like he really wanted his help to do whatever he needed to do, Henry looked at him; "Will you help me with something?"_

_Eddie nodded._

_"We can't tell Winter, though..." he added._

_Before Eddie knew what Henry needed help with, he agreed to it, since he could see the genuineness in his eyes and the worry of becoming a dad._

_The both of them grabbed a bunch of garbage bags, a shovel, gasoline, a fire-extinguisher, matches and a shovel. With all this equipment, Henry and Eddie walked to the sewage building in The Barrens, where they had only went to kill Pennywise five months ago._

_Henry needed to make sure that It was actually dead._

_Although the vibe in Derry changed since they went into the sewers to kill the clown, he still needed to see Pennywise's tiny ashed body for himself again, as a dad to be. He considered that, if the ashes were not still there, that he would put his house up for sale and move somewhere else to protect his family, just incase._

_Henry and Eddie filled the crater hole with gasoline and lit it up in a big fire._

_As they watched the flames light up the cave where Henry, Bev, Ben, Bill and Mike destroyed Pennywise's heart, Henry turned to Eddie; "I knew It was dead, but I feel like I'm worrying about everything since Winter got pregnant. Thanks for your help, though."_

_Eddie softly smiled and nodded, "I never had my dad around, so I don't really know what it's like for a dad to worry about his kids, but I can really tell that you're excited and scared all at the same time."_

_"Yeah, especially living here with this thing that use to haunt us..." Henry watched the flames, "If you didn't agree to come down here with me, since I wouldn't have gone by myself, I would have just put the house up for sale..." He patted Eddie's shoulder in appreciation; "Thanks! Now I feel safer living here."_

_After they extinguished the fire and looked at the burnt ashes of where Pennywise's dead body was, they continued to walk through the caves. Henry wanted to go pay his respects to Arnie before they left the sewers._

_When they saw the half decomposed body of Arnie Cunningham, they could smell an oder of rot coming off of his rotting skin._

_"Jesus!" Eddie exclaimed._

_They both put their shirts up to their noses and dry-heaved._

_Not knowing that Arnie had died, Eddie said; "I feel like fucking shit for saying this, but I completely forgot about Arnie..."_

_Henry looked at Arnie's body, and said; "A lot of crazy shit happened that day, so it's understandable." He took his shirt away from his nose as the surprise from the stench had disappeared._

_"I thought he was locked up in one of the bedrooms at your house?" Eddie removed his shirt from his nose and kept his distance as Henry walked up to the body._

_Henry kneeled down beside his body, and responded, "I think one of them let him go; Vic, Belch or Ace."_

_Still keeping his distance, Eddie asked; "How did he die?"_

_Henry continued to stare at Arnie as he crossed his arms over his chest and reflected. Nonchalantly, but regretfully, he answered as he rubbed his nose, "I killed him..."_

_Eddie looked at Henry in surprise; He remembered that Henry wanted to make sure Arnie got out alive, even though he was cursed as the Chosen One to kill all of them. Arnie was Henry's employee who he taught everything he knew about cars to._

_"He was going to kill Winter... So I killed him before he could kill her... If I was one second later, he would have killed her... Before he died, the curse had lifted and he was normal seventeen-year-old Arnie again."_

_"I'm sorry, Henry... You risked your life trying to save him..." Eddie said sadly, he could see how much this had been eating at Henry's conscious. After-all, Henry did go under the moving 1958 Red Plymouth Fury to cut the gas line to destroy the car when he tried to save Arnie._

_As Henry looked at Arnie's body, the last thing Arnie said to him passed through his mind:_

**_Arnie coughed some more, "I meant what I said, though..."_ **

**_Tears ran down Henry's cheeks as he looked back at Arnie; "Said what?"_ **

**_"That sometimes I wish you were my dad..." he smiled weakly, letting out a little laugh._ **

**_Getting progressively weaker, Arnie said, "You would make such... a cool..."_ **

_**...dad.** _

_Henry put his hand to his face and broke down in tears._

_Eddie looked at Henry with surprise. He had never seen Henry cry before. He had known him since he was four, and he had never seen him cry. He was Henry Bowers. He was always Keanu Reeves to him and The Losers. Looking at him like a superhero made them all forget that Henry still was a human being who could become sad and worried._

_"My kids are going to be seventeen one day, and they will want me to go see a car that they want to buy..." Henry cried, "I should have just somehow forbad Arnie from buying the car. I wanted to save his life, but I ended up killing him... I killed a kid, man... How am I going to look at my kids when they're seventeen and not think about how I killed a seventeen-year-old kid before?"_

_Eddie felt terrible for not realizing that everything Henry went through could leave a trauma inside of him. After all, they all looked at him as the Losers superhero; "But you saved Winter, and now you're bringing two children into the world."_

_Henry sniffled, "I just wish I could have brought him home."_

_"I think you saved him by killing him, Henry... You saved his soul from Pennywise's tortured souls, like Ace, Vic and Belch."_

_"Fuck, Eddie..." Henry put his hand to his face, "I'm just fucking scared shitless to be a dad, especially to two children, and have this haunting me."_

_Eddie pursed his lips as he continued to watch Henry cry. Putting away his fear of getting close to such a decomposed body, Eddie walked over to Henry and Arnie._

_Eddie got down on his knees and pulled out the garbage bags._

_"What are you doing?" Henry asked._

_Eddie looked at him; "You and Winter are going to have two great kids, and you shouldn't let this live in your conscious for the rest of your life. We're going to give him a proper burial so you can let him go. When you let Arnie go, you can give one-hundred percent of yourself to your kids; And, one day, when your kids are seventeen, you're going to look at them as two beautiful teenagers that you and Winter created, and not look at them as the kid you couldn't save from a demonic clown. You've saved all of us, that's seven people -- and Stan, too, when he was a kid, so that's eight -- and we all look up to you for that, but you can't hate yourself because you couldn't save one person. Don't do that to yourself, man. Your kids will want to see that superhero that you are... Don't let this one death kill that superhero in you."_

_Henry stared at Eddie, surprised by his words; He could tell that he really cared about him and Winter. It was at this moment, that Eddie wasn't just Winter's friend from high school and a new roommate in The Bowers house; Eddie was Henry's trusted best friend._

_Eddie scrunched his face at the smell, and then put the scruff of his shirt back up over his nose before trying to get Arnie's upper body into the bag._

_Henry snapped out of his shock over Eddie's leadership within that moment, and began to help him._

_"We'll bury him in The Barrens," Henry said._

_Eddie nodded, as they continued to get his body in the garbage bags._

"How do you feel about Edz?" 

I bit my lip as I went back into my head. I wanted to answer, but I couldn't think properly; There were too many things going on in my head. 

There was a long silence.

"Why did you become quiet when I asked about your feelings for him?" she asked. 

I pictured Edz face all of a sudden; Specifically him smiling at me with those goofy puppy dog eyes that squint when he laughs, and those dimples that grabs everyones attention. 

I smiled. 

...But then I frowned.

_"I mean... You can totally correct me if I'm wrong... But don't you think it's really insensitive to be moving on when Henry hasn't even been gone for a year? Don't you think it's kind of a crazy coincidence, too, that when Henry died, Eddie--"_

"Winter?" 

I jumped out of my thoughts and looked at her. My eyes had started to water while the beginning of that unforgettable conversation went through my memory. 

"When I ask you about your feelings for Edz, who's voice answers in your head? Is it you, or is it somebody else?" 

I looked at her, as I said, "Richie's... He said a lot of stuff to me on Friday night... A lot of stuff." 

"I got the police report from that night..." she started; I looked at her. "He said some dangerous things to say to a grieving wife, as well as some pretty serious accusations. It says in the report that Edz brought up to the police that he wanted to get a restraining order placed to protect you, him and your kids against Richie. Do you think that's necessary?" 

I wiped a tear from my eye; "I just don't want to see him for a while, and I don't want him talking to my kids. I don't think a restraining order is necessary... It's not like he threatened anybody. Besides, I heard he went back to L.A. after he left the hospital... Edz decided not to press charges, and Richie decided not to press charges because of their fight..." I teared up more as I heard myself talking about all of this out-loud.

Jesus Christ; How is this even happening?! These were the kids I hung out with at lunch in high school, and now restraining orders and charges are getting brought up! What the fuck is going on?!

"What do you think Richie's intensions were Friday when he asked you out for dinner?" she asked me. 

I shook my head; "I don't know... That night started like a usual night I would have with him..."

_"Hey there, Dollface! What's cookin', good lookin'?"_

"But then it ended the way it did..."

_Winter threw a glass of water at Richie face, and then slapped his cheek before walking away._

I wiped a tear from my eyelid as the night went through my mind.

"But that night didn't end after the dinner with Richie, did it? I just want to let you know that I need to report if you were planning harm to yourself. Winter, did you step or did you trip?"

_Winter looked down into the darkness as she stepped..._

"I tripped."

Doctor Williams nodded at her as she took down the notes. 

"I'm trying to get a clearer picture of everything that had happened to have led to Friday night; Could you please describe to me regarding Richie's mid-life crisis?" she asked. 

I took a moment to think about it; "The identity crisis started in April of 2030, which was over a month before Henry died. It started off as an identity crisis. Then, in May, his crisis blew up to becoming obsessive about Edz and me. He was talking about us behind our backs, and putting ideas in everyones heads. Once Henry died, Richie pretty much snapped..." I thought more about it, "Edz never told me about the fight they had before Henry's funeral... I think he was ashamed that I would look at him differently or something if he told me... But he finally opened up to me about it this weekend." 

"Interesting..." she remarked; "How would you describe Richie before all of this started to happen with him?" 

"Richie's always been funny. He does cover up his feelings with humour, though... His jokes are usually pointed towards his friends, but we all know he's joking when he says things about us. It wasn't until around Henry's fiftieth Birthday when he became worse... He wasn't making jokes at Edz and me anymore... He became very volatile behind our backs... But then, he just snapped when Henry died and all his attention went on Edz." Winter. 

"Can you tell me about the identity crisis?" she asked, ready to take down notes. 

"I know it began during my Birthday party when Bev asked me if I felt satisfied with my life after turning fifty..." I began, "And I told her I was very satisfied, but I wished that I might have put out a music album, because I've always been a good singer..." I sighed, "Richie seemed really into the conversation we were having, taking it very seriously, and I think that's what started his crisis." 

Winter cleared her throat, "It wasn't until a few weeks after my Birthday, in April, when I received a very odd phone call from Richie..." 

** Saturday April 6, 2030 **

Winter's phone rang at 4AM.

"What the hell?" she mumbled as she grabbed her Android from the bedside table.

"Who is it?" Henry mumbled as he began to wake up.

Winter tried to adjust her sleepy eyes to the lit up screen; "It's Richie."

"What the hell does he want at four in the morning?" Henry mumbled, annoyed.

Winter sighed and got out of bed. She answered the phone; "Richie, one moment, okay?" She put the phone to her chest, and said to Henry, "I'm going to go outside, so I don't wake the kids."

She quickly ran down the stairs and quietly walked out to the front of the house.

She walked out in the cold dark air, and went to the curb by the street. She sat down on the concrete and put the phone to her ear; "Richie, it's four in the morning; Are you okay?"

"Winter! Winter! I've been up all night!" Richie exclaimed, he sounded like he was in a manic of excitement and inspiration.

"Why?" she asked, tiredly.

"Do you remember at your Birthday party when you said that you wished you had recorded an album?" He went on, "Well, it got me thinking..."

She was having problems keeping her eyes open as she listened.

"I've been doing comedy for years and the game store, and I haven't done anything new and exciting for nearly twenty years. Since Eddie's had his comic book ideas and he's changed his health, Bev and Ben got married, Bill and his wife moved to a beach house in Malibu, Mike moved to Florida, Henry had kids -- You and me could do something spectacular, too!"

Winter rolled her eyes, "You know, when you say that Henry had kids, you realize that I did, too, right? Like... I'm the one who birthed them, so I think I should be apart of that, too."

"But, Winter... You and me can give birth to something more amazing!"

 _More amazing than mine and Henry's kids? Richie and me giving birth? What is this about?_ Winter thought.

"What are you talking about, Richie?"

"You ready for this? You ready?!" he asked excitedly. "We can give birth to mine and your new music career!"

Winter looked around the street in annoyance, "Richie, I'm not interested... I'm a full-time mom and a family doctor... When I said that I wished I recorded an album, it was just something I said... I'm really happy with the life I got with Henry and the kids."

"Don't give up on me, Winter!" Richie said, "You have a talent, and I have ideas! At least pitch the idea with me before you decide! We will do one set at a pub, and then you decide if you want to make it a full-time thing!"

Winter rolled her eyes, "Okay... What's your idea?"

"You ready for this?!" 

He became quiet as Winter could hear movement. Then he turned on his speaker to full-blast and put the phone to the speaker as _'Like A G6'_ by Far East Movement played over the phone.

_**'Poppin' bottles in the ice, like a blizzard** _  
_**When we drink, we do it right gettin' slizzard** _  
_**Sippin' sizzurp in my ride (in my ride) like three six** _  
_**Now I'm feelin' so fly like a G 6'** _

Winter turned around to the sound of Henry coming outside to check on her. Even though Pennywise was dead, he didn't like her or the kids out too late, even if it was still on the property. There was always that _'just in case...'_ thought Henry had since becoming a dad.

_**'Like a G 6, like a G 6** _  
_**Now I'm feelin' so fly like a G 6** _  
_**Like a G 6, like a G 6  
Now I'm feelin' so fly like a G 6'** _

"What's he want?" Henry asked, tiredly.

Winter rolled her eyes and shrugged her arms in the air at Henry, telling him that the conversation was ridiculous.

"He's playing me 2010 rap music..."

_**'Hell yea  
Drink it up, drink-drink it up,** _  
_**These sober girls around me, they be actin' like they drunk  
They be actin' like they drunk, actin'-actin' like they drunk  
When sober girls around me they be actin'-actin' like they drunk'** _

"You and me are going to become Rappers!" 

Winter didn't say anything. This whole conversation was ridiculous. _  
_

"Well, I'll be the Rapper! You can be the pop singer who sings the chorus!" he said.

"Richie... This is---"

"Crazy?! I KNOW!" he exclaimed

Winter didn't even think this sounded like Richie. He sounded so manic.

"Rich--"

"Winter, I'm not letting you go to bed until you agree to do one set!" Richie protested, "I will keep calling you until you agree to do it!"

Winter put her hand to her tired eyes.

"Say you'll do this! I need those amazing vocal cords of yours, baby!"

"Okay!" She was too tired to argue, "Two songs! That's it!"

He exhaled in excitement; "So, in two weeks from today, we're going to be performing at The Duchess of Maine!"

"Wait... You already booked this? Richie, I don't know what the hell this is that you want to do!"

"It's okay! I already have two songs picked! One is R&B and the other one is Rap. Your parts are easy -- No worries, babydoll!"

Winter could hear him blaring rap music at his home in L.A.

"I'll send you the songs tomorrow! I'll be in Derry next week, and we can rehearse!"

Without warning, Richie hung up.

Winter scrunched her face, and looked at the phone. That was too bizarre to her.

She got up to her feet and looked at Henry's tired eyes; "He wants me to do a Rap set with him at The Duchess of Maine in two weeks. He wants a career in Rap music."

Henry stared at her blankly, "You and Richie are going to be Rappers?"

"Not me!" she rubbed her forehead, "I think he wants me as, like, a hype girl or something..."

Henry's lips began to tremble as he tried not to laugh.

Winter bursted out laughing at him trying to repress his laugh; "Don't laugh, babe! He sounded really weird!"

Henry grabbed onto her waist and kissed her lips; "It sounds like the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but I will watch your Rap gig."

Winter snorted out a laugh; "Rapper at fifty... Just exactly where I wanted my life to go..." she joked. 

It was exactly two weeks later, on Saturday April 20, 2030, when Henry, Winter and Eddie were sitting at a table at The Duchess of Maine on Open-Mic Night. Richie and Winter rehearsed some songs for a week before Richie chose the two he wanted to perform. 

Winter really didn't want to be apart of his gig, but he was her friend and he wanted her help. 

Richie was dressed like Slim Shady. He had told Winter to dress like how she use to as a teenager. He even picked the outfit; Daisy Duke shorts, navy blue halter top and a black beanie.

"I feel ridiculous..." Winter said to Henry and Eddie, as she looked around the pub that was packed with people. 

Richie was on the stage, getting the audio ready from his laptop, which had the music on it. 

"I'm fifty and I'm dressed like I'm sixteen..." 

"You're beautiful, babe," Henry smiled at her as he took a sip of water, "Don't be embarrassed." 

Eddie grabbed a chicken wing, trying his hardest not to look at Winter's body as she sat across from him at the table. Every time she looked away at the group of people, his eyes were scanning her halter top. 

Not wanting to be weird, Eddie joined the conversation; "So... Why are you guys doing this?" 

Winter looked at Eddie and caught his gaze. For eighteen years, since him and Winter kissed in the operating room, Winter and Eddie would always get lost in each others eyes whenever they looked at each other. It was like a magnetic attraction that pulled their eyes together, and sometimes they would share a smile when that happened. Most of the time, though, they would just gaze into each others eyes as they talked, and never questioned it or thought more into it. Eddie respected Henry and her marriage, and Winter would never cheat on Henry. 

"I think he's having a mid-life crisis," Winter told him. 

"And somehow you got pulled into it..." Henry lightly laughed. "At least you can sing. You might be the one that saves this performance." 

"If this goes bad, I'm never coming here again," Winter sighed. She turned to look around some more. "There's so many people here!" She looked down at her top and began pulling it up, "Why am I wearing this thing?!" 

Henry and Eddie looked at her and bursted out laughing at her frustration. 

"I think this new career move from the both of you is going to be my new favourite thing of this year!" Eddie took a napkin and wiped his hands, "I'm going to try and make you burst out laughing while you're up there! It will take your mind off of everything!" 

Winter laughed and leaned over the table, pointing her finger playfully at Eddie; "Edz, I will kill you if you make me laugh!" 

Eddie bursted out laughing in a big laugh; "Oh, I'm so going to do it now!" 

"Don't even start with me!" 

Eddie let out a big laugh, "OH MAN! Let's get this started!" 

Winter looked at Henry, "Can we just go home now?" 

Henry laughed at her, "How about the moment you get off stage, we go straight home?" 

On the small stage, Richie looked over to Winter and motioned her to come up. 

Winter groaned, "Lord help me..." When she passed by Eddie, she said, "Don't make me laugh!" 

Once Winter got up, Eddie got up to sit beside Henry so he could see the stage. They were only sitting in the middle of the pub, just a few feet in front of the small stage. 

Eddie grabbed another wing from the platter that him and Henry were sharing, and asked him, "Are you excited for this?" 

Henry looked at him, answering sarcastically, "Yeah, I've always wanted my wife to go up on stage in a halter top and daisy duke shorts in a pub of over eighty men, entertaining a forty-eight year old man going through a mid-life crisis, who's never rapped a word in his life all while dressed like Slim Shady..."

Eddie bursted out laughing and clapped his hands as he laughed.

Henry crossed his arms over his chest and watched the stage; "It's all my dreams coming true all on one stage." 

"Is this your impressed face right now?" Eddie laughed. 

"It's my absolute ecstatic face!" Henry said. 

"Hey, guys..." Richie said into the Mic. 

Once Winter looked over to Henry and Eddie, Eddie waved to her frantically with a big goofy smile. 

Winter looked away, trying not to smile; "Stop!" she mouthed while laughing lightly. 

Richie said, "We're Richie and Winter, and together we are R&W." 

Henry laughed, "Jesus Christ..." he mumbled at the name. 

Eddie bursted out laughing hysterically at the name. 

Richie glanced quickly at Eddie, annoyed by his big laughter. 

To be fair, the first song was not too bad. It was a 2010 R&B song called _'Whatcha Say'_ by Jason Derulo. 

**Winter:**

_**'Wh-wh-wh-what did you say?  
Mm whatcha say?  
Mm that you only meant well?  
Well of course you did  
Mm whatcha say?'** _

While Richie sang the song, he didn't do too bad. 

During the whole song, Henry mostly glanced around the bar to make sure no one was drooling over Winter's outfit. 

Eddie was eating and vibing as he ate the wings and mouthed a few of the lyrics along with Richie. 

Winter was singing the chorus again, and she looked over to her table. 

_**'Wh-wh-wh-what did you say?  
Mm whatcha say?'** _

Eddie saw her looking, and he began snapping his fingers and nodding his head with the beat in a very big way as he looked at her, while mouthing the words along with her. 

Winter giggled into the Mic., which caused Richie to snap his head to Winter, and then to Eddie, as he was taking this very seriously. 

Nervously, Winter looked at Richie after giggling, and continued on. 

When the song was over, Eddie and Henry thought it wasn't too bad. Winter sounded good, and Richie did a pretty good job. That was the easy song, though, as the next one was going to be a Rap song. 

Henry started eating a wing, and Eddie kept his eyes on Winter while Richie got the next song ready. 

Since Winter was more confident now, after that first song, she was ready to sing more confidently to this next song and have some fun. 

The song started out with the sounds of a ping-ball machine. 

Then the beat dropped. 

**Richie:**

**_'You spin my head right round, right round...'_ **

Henry nearly choked on his food at the song.

Not knowing what the song was about, Winter sang with a big smile while pointing at everyone in the audience.

**Winter:**

**_'You spin my head right round, right round...  
When you go down, when you go down down...'_ **

Henry leaned over to Eddie, and said; "Fuck! Winter doesn't know that this song is about giving blowjobs!" 

Eddie looked at Winter pointing at everyone in the audience, which were all men, with her energetic head twirling. He bursted out laughing at her cute big dance moves, especially since she didn't know what the song was about. 

Eddie said to Henry, "She's dancing around like a bunny!" 

When Richie started rapping the beats, Eddie bursted out in a big laugh. 

**Richie:**

_**'Hey, walk out that house with my swagger  
** Hop in there with dough, I got places to go!  
People to see, time is precious  
I looked at my cotty, are ya out of control?' _

Henry looked around the bar, looking at all the men watching Winter as she head-banged her head to the beat and dancing around in her spot. 

Eddie laughed throughout the whole song to Richie's rapping and Winter's dance moves when she sang. Every time Winter started singing, he would sing along, impersonating her head-bopping dance moves as he sat in his chair. 

Winter looked back at the table when she was about to sing the chorus and noticed Eddie dancing to her dance moves and singing along. 

She continued to dance and pointed at him, while she sang:

**_'When you go down, when you go down down'_ **

Eddie began laughing hysterically at her for pointing at him, and began clapping with laughter. 

He pointed right back at her as she sang to him.

Henry looked at Eddie, "I'm going to pay the bill, so we can get her the fuck out of here after this. There's been, like, five men at the bar who have pointed at Winter for the bartender to get her a drink." 

Eddie laughed, "Oh, my God!" He pulled out his wallet, and handed Henry his card; "Here... You paid last time. Just tap." 

Henry took the card, and said to Eddie, "Can you get her right from the stage when they're done and take her outside?" 

Eddie nodded as he continued laughing at the performance. 

As Winter was singing the last bit of the chorus, Eddie head-bopped like how Winter was, as he walked to the stage.

When the song was over, Eddie said to Winter in a laugh; "Come on you little firecracker, I'm your security out of here!" 

Winter stepped down from the stage, followed by Richie and his computer. 

"Why do I need security out of here?" Winter asked. 

Eddie went behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, guiding her out as fast as he could as all the men in the bar were staring at her and smiling. 

"Just trust me on this!" Eddie laughed. 

Henry followed right behind them, and when they were outside, he grabbed Winter's hand and they walked to the car as fast as they all could. Eddie continued to laugh as they walked, turning red and his cheeks hurting from laughing so much. 

Richie turned to him; "Why did you laugh during the entire gig, asshole?!" 

"Because..." Eddie pointed at Winter in front of him. Since he was laughing too much and couldn't talk, he just began head-bopping and pointing around. 

Henry got into the drivers side; Winter got into the passenger side. Both Eddie and Richie got into the backseat. 

When they all closed the doors, Henry turned to Winter; "Do you know what that song was about?" 

She looked at him, and then looked at Eddie giggling in the back; "It's a Rap version of that song from The Wedding Singer..." she said, confused.

Henry let out a laugh at her confusion; "WOW!" And then asked again, "Yeah, okay, but do you know what the Rap version is about?" 

Winter looked around the car confused, "I don't know, babe! It's just a Rap version of the song from The Wedding Singer! The one Adam Sandler sings!" 

"Wait..." Richie said from the back, "Winter, you didn't know what the song was about?!" 

"NO!" Winter said, "I'm so confused! Why is Edz still laughing!? It's the song from The Wedding Singer, but the Rap version!"

Eddie continued to laugh and clapped his hands at her responses. 

"Fuck, Winter!" Richie exclaimed, "No wonder you were dancing around like Avril Lavigne with firecrackers going off in your ass!" 

Eddie belted out a huge laugh and giggle, tears in his eyes from laughing so much. 

"Guys! What the fuck are you talking about?!" Winter said. 

"God, Winter!" Richie continued, "Everyone in the pub saw that you were with three men! They probably all think you're looking for a sausage fest or something!" 

"RICHIE!" Winter exclaimed, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU MAKE ME SING?!" 

Eddie continued to laugh, "She pointed at me!" 

Richie turned to him; "Yeah, you and, like, fifty other men, dude. Chill." 

Winter turned to Henry; "Babe, what the fuck did I just sing?!" 

Henry had his face turned away, but when he faced her, he was laughing at all the things Richie was saying. "Babe..." he began, "You can only spin my head around and around, okay?"

Winter's eyes went wide as she clued in, and she turned to Richie; "RICHIE, WHY DID YOU MAKE ME SING THAT?! AND IN THIS OUTFIT?!"

"It's not the song or the outfit that they're laughing at!" Richie protested as he laughed, "You were pointing at everyone and dancing around like a fucking little punk rock bunny about giving blowjobs!" 

Eddie continued to laugh in the back. He had not stopped laughing during the whole conversation. 

Winter looked at Eddie, and began laughing herself; "EDZ! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" She smacked his leg, and then turned to Henry; "WHY ARE YOU STILL LAUGHING AT ME!" 

Then the whole car exploded out into a laughing fit. 


	51. CH.3/PT.4: Visions, Dreams & Richie's New Obsession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185

** **

** Friday May 23, 2031 (PRESENT DAY) -- 10AM --Eddie **

"Tell me about the day you told Myra that you were done with the marriage..." Doctor Williams suggested.

I sighed into my hands, recalling that day; "That day was so chaotic... But it was a real eye-opener for me..."

_"YOU CAN TAKE YOUR GODDAMN MEDICATIONS!" Myra threw the bottles of medication at Eddie, as he stood in the entrance to the kitchen that day in 2012. The bottles broke open as they hit him and pills fell everywhere, "YOUR INHALERS!" she threw all the empty inhalers at him; "DON'T FORGET YOUR STUPID COUPONS!" she threw a pile of papers at him; "AND YOU WILL BE HEARING FROM THE LAWYERS! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BUSINESS AND MONEY, EDDIE!"_

_Eddie stood at the doorway, feeling the fear of change taking over his mind as he stared at Myra._

_"Throwing things at Edz doesn't change the fact that he wants to leave! You can tell the cops when they come that I kicked you, which I didn't do, but Edz is still going to come with us when we're done here!" Winter protested to Myra. "When the cops come, I'm going to tell them that all the pills on the floor is from you whipping the bottles at his face!"_

_Winter stood there, trying to be the mediator in this situation, but Myra was really working at her temper._

_Henry and Winter went with Eddie to his house. Henry went with Eddie to help him pack up his belongings, and Winter came so she could be a witness to anything Myra might have tried to do, or accused the two men of doing. Myra had made an accusation, and it was that Winter kicked her when Eddie and Henry were upstairs, and she ended up calling the police._

_Winter had called down Eddie to tell him the situation._

_During this time, Henry was upstairs, in the bedroom, packing up Eddie's things as this confrontation happened on the main floor._

_"Edz?" Winter spoke softly, trying to get Eddie out of his head after Myra threw stuff at him._

_Eddie kept his eyes on Myra as she stomped around the kitchen. As he watched her, all he could picture was the life he had been living since he was born; Confined to a chair with spoonful’s of medications he didn't need being fed to him with the fear of disease and dying. He would also be always told what to do, and what not to do, and being told that his feelings and words were not valid in any situation. He was always going to be Myra's and his mom's puppet._

_But it was a life he was so use to... He knew how to live this day to day life... It was his comfort zone._

_"Edz?" Winter said again, trying to get his attention away from looking at Myra. "Edz?" she took her index finger and turned his head gently to look at her._

_When Eddie looked at Winter, he saw a whole other future than the one he saw looking at Myra._

_Winter's soft eyes made him see a more peaceful future; A future of freedom from being restrained to paranoia, and he could almost see himself in a peaceful meadow with Winter helping him decide what was best for him -- **Helping** him, not **telling** him. _

_His mom may have given him life, but Winter gave him a new life. As he looked at her beauty, he remembered that it was her breath in his lungs, it was her palms that gave his heart a second chance, it was that feeling from her kiss in the operating room that pumped his veins full of blood and electricity, and it was her courage to operate on him to save his life that made him feel hope for himself. Looking at her made him remember that starting over wasn't so scary, as long as he stayed close to her; The woman who gave him life again._

_Winter pursed her lips, thinking of how Myra called the cops, accusing her of kicking her; "Edz, when the police come, will you protect me?"_

_"No, Eddie! When the police come, can you protect me?" Myra asked._

_It was the same questions, but they asked it in two different ways;_

_Myra asked him if he **can** help her, which sounded like she wasn't sure if Eddie knew what to do for himself if the police came. When Myra said "can," she was reflecting on what she thinks he's capable of, and his intellectual capacity to make a decision for himself._

_Winter asked the same question, but she asked if he **will** help her, which sounded like she knew he could do whatever he chose to do, because she believed he had the intellectual capacity to make a decision for himself._

_Eddie looked at Winter, and put his hands on the sides of her head as he stroked her cheekbones quickly to reassure her; "Don't worry; I will protect you."_

"So you decided, in that moment, that the choice was right for you to leave Myra, because you could see that Winter always respected you to make the right choices for yourself, and you could see a different future just being around her; Vs. Myra, who convinced you that you were sick and would belittle your manhood every day, just like your mom did?" Doctor Williams paraphrased.

I nodded my head; "That's right..." I paused before I said, "Does it have to be a month that Winter and me can't see each other? Can we change it to next week that we can see each other again? I don't think we've gone this long without communication in nineteen years."

Doctor Williams softly smiled, "What's got you feeling anxious over this little break, Eddie?"

I tapped my foot anxiously against the ground; "Winter and me were starting to get somewhere together, and if it weren't for Richie, we would be figuring our feelings out for ourselves. I blocked Richie from my phone and Facebook, and I know Winter did, too, because we talked about this month apart before we actually stopped communication..." I sighed, "We're keeping each other on Facebook, but we're just not going to text, chat, call or visit each other."

Doctor Williams nodded, "That's good... But why are you anxious about this?"

I put my hand in the air, as I explained; "I don't have a family! The Bowers were always my family, and now I can't even see Winter for a month, who I've fallen in love with! Henry's one year is coming up, and I'm anxious about it, because it will be a bad day for her!" I put my hand to my bruised face and sighed again, "I hate it when she's sad. I need to comfort her. Ever since we were kids, if she wasn't happy, I would try my best to make her feel better and comfort her."

Doctor Williams could tell that I was really anxious, and she suggested, "Eddie, will it make you feel better if I book one of her appointments with me on the one-year anniversary of Henry's death? That way she will have someone to talk to..."

Slowly, I nodded my head. I just wanted anything to help her get through that day. I was considering to even ask either Bill, Bev and Ben, or Mike to fly in that weekend to be with her. Since her kids were in college, I didn't know if they would be home that weekend to be with their mom.

God, it should be me that's with her, though...

"Okay..." Doctor Williams nodded calmly, "I will bring it up to her that you're worried about her being alone that day, and I will suggest some options for her to take to get through that weekend."

I sat comfortably back down in the sofa chair, letting my back rest against the soft cushion.

"I'm interested to know more about these first dates you say you can't get through, Eddie. Can you tell me any details on what a first date, end-of-the-night kiss, looks like for you?" she asked.

I began to turn red; "I don't really want to... It's kind of embarrassing."

"I know you're looking for the same chemistry that you had with Winter on that day in the operating room. I won't judge anything you say, Eddie. You're coming to me to talk about your life and feelings, and I want you to feel comfortable to open up so I can help you. Now, why is it embarrassing to you?"

I bit my bruised lower lip as I began to tell her about my last date I had, which was a few weeks before Henry's fiftieth Birthday party...

_Eddie had taken a woman named Kate, who he had seen a few times at Costco, out to the park for a picnic during this one particular warm April evening during sunset._

_Things were going pretty well; She had opened up a bit about her life, and he told her a bit about himself throughout the picnic. She didn't mind that he was a workaholic with a passion for nerdy games, and he thought she was pretty with her long brown hair and dreamy eyes._

_Eddie had gone in for a small first kiss, and she responded by kissing him back. The kiss was really soft and felt nice._

_When they separated, Eddie said; "This is going to sound kind of weird, but can we try something? I just want to see something..." He quickly shook his head and laughed, "Don't worry; It's not sexual!"_

_Questionably, but interested, Kate nodded._

_"Just come over here to my side..." he indicated._

_Kate went to his side._

_Eddie laid down on his back._

_Slowly, he looked to the picnic cloth, and he grabbed the bottle of ketchup. He squirted a small amount on his finger; "Just come a little closer..."_

_She leaned over to him a little closer._

_Eddie lightly smudged the ketchup from his finger to the right side of her head, leaving a little scar of, what he remembered, as blood on that day in the hospital._

_He placed her left hand on the side of his face, so her thumb was stroking his cheekbone. He placed her right hand on top of his heart, as he kept his hand on top of her hand above his heart. He placed his right hand to the side of her neck._

_As she inched closer, Eddie had an image of Winter going in for the kiss in the operating room. When she put her lips on top of his, he wanted her to kiss him passionately and sensually, like how Winter kissed him that day, making him feel the love and care he felt that day. He needed to match that same connection, or else he would always wish the woman he was kissing everyday was Winter. He wanted to match it as perfectly as possible._

_As they kissed, all he could picture in his mind was Winter. However, he just wanted to feel that same connection, but he really wished he could get the image of Winter out of his mind, as all he wanted was that same connection. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed like his kisses were always going to be for Winter's lips only._

_When they separated, Kate got back up to a sitting position, and Eddie did, too._

_Eddie rubbed at his forehead, as this didn't feel right -- like every other date he went on._

_"Did you want to go on another date?" Kate asked him._

_Eddie continued to rub at his forehead, feeling disappointed, and like he was never going to be able to move on from that kiss in the operating room._

_Eddie looked at her disappointingly, "I don't think so, Kate. I enjoyed the date with you, but I don't think I'm ready to get into a relationship."_

Doctor Williams kept her eyes on me, as I kept my gaze out the window while I explained my process during a first date.

God, I'm so ashamed of myself for doing this to myself!

"Am I psycho? Is there something wrong with me?" I asked her, seriously. "For thirty-four years, my mind and heart has only belonged to Winter, who's always loved Henry. Even when I was married, and I hadn't seen Winter for fifteen years, I would imagine Winter and Henry on the picnic table when I was having sex with my wife..."I put my hands to my face feeling ashamed, "Fuck... Maybe I'm a psychopath..."

Doctor Williams could tell I was serious when I asked if something was wrong with me; "Eddie, I think you're a man who's always known what you've really wanted, but couldn't attain it, because who you've always wanted was devoted to another man, and you've respected the relationship Winter and Henry had together. If you're questioning if you're a psychopath, then you are most definitely not one." She softly smiled, "Psychopaths have very big egos and would never think they are the ones with the problem. Psychopaths would also never be as patient as you have been for so many years." She paused, before she said; "I think you have one soul-mate in life, and it's probably Winter."

I took my hands away from my face, and looked at her, interested to hear what she had to say.

"I personally think that both you and Henry have one soul-mate on this planet, and it's Winter. It sounds like Winter has two soul-mates; Henry and you. Do you find it interesting that when her first soul-mate passed away, she started feeling closer to you? Perhaps, you might be her next soul-mate in life?"

_Eddie repeated Pennywise (his mom), as he stared at Winter sitting there behind the glass wall; "She's Henry's soulmate until... Until the day... The day Henry dies?"_

I blinked at the vision of myself in the sewers talking to the version of Pennywise as my mom and ex-wife, while I looked at Winter behind the glass. I know _that_ didn't happen when we were in the sewers that day in 2012! New things keep popping up in my memory of events that have never happened!

"That keeps happening..." I rubbed at my eyes.

"What keeps happening?" Doctor Williams asked.

"For the past year, I have these visions, like memories, but they're not memories..." I sighed, "It's really complicated, but Winter has them, too, sometimes. For her, they're mostly dreams, but I get flashes..." I moistened my bruised lips, as I said, "It's like another world we lived in, or something, but it's not logically explainable."

"They started a year ago?" Doctor Williams asked me, "Is this during the same time when Richie started to become paranoid about you and Winter?"

I nodded, "Yeah... The day right before Henry's Birthday party..."

"Can you explain what happened the day before the party?"

** Friday May 3, 2030 **

"Eddie, where do you put the card binders with the Magic Masterpieces?" Richie asked from behind the counter as he scrambled around through the binders organized in Eddie's alphabetical order.

Eddie opened up another booster pack from behind the counter, trying to find new cards to place in the Showcase; "It's on the top right-hand corner," he pointed.

"It's r-r-right here, Richie!" Bill pulled out the binder for him.

"I can't believe you fucking gave Kyle a water-marked Black Lotus card!" Richie said with an annoyed tone, "Does Henry and Winter know that you basically paid off his tuition for college, plus bought him a car, also paid off rent for a few years for a nice apartment with that card? Those cards are fucking selling on Ebay for $166,000, dude! Then the water-mark would make it over $250,000... Are you stupid?!"

Eddie let out a laugh, even though he knew Richie didn't like him giving away such an expensive card; "So what? We can't sell a water-marked card here, man! It's not like we had to pay for it, either, and it's not like the distributor would send us another Black Lotus card anyway. Also..." He pointed at Richie, "You're a fucking millionaire..." He pointed at Bill, "Bill's a fucking millionaire..." He motioned to himself, "I'm a fucking millionaire..." He pointed out the front windows towards where they could see Henry's Mechanic Shop on that sunny warm day across the street, "The Bowers are a middle-class family with two kids they would give the world to, and they've done a lot for me throughout the years. It's good to give back sometimes, man."

Bill listened as he sorted out the inventory list of all the new board games expected to come in next week. He had no idea how Eddie was able to do all this work himself for the majority of the year when him and Richie were living their lives in California.

"Uh-huh..." Richie said to him, as he watched him explain.

Richie's ears had turned off while Eddie was talking; He didn't know why his eyes were scanning Eddie up and down as he spoke. Richie was observing the black fitted t-shirt that he was wearing that day with the tan-coloured khaki shorts he had on. He was also looking at the dark brown stubbles that Eddie was growing on his face and neck, which covered up his dimples when he talked and laughed, but the hair on his face made his face look very masculine and charming.

Seeing Richie still staring at him, Eddie continued on; "Also, when I lived with The Bowers back in 2012 and 2013, they did not _once_ ask me to pay them rent, and for the past _eighteen years_ , they have never asked me for money. I mean, I did help support Henry's business during 2020 when Covid-19 was an issue, but I offered it, and they let me live with them during part of the year, since I didn't want to live by myself with nothing to do at my house when we were all self-isolating..."

Richie observed Eddie's expression as he was talking, and then Richie saw Eddie glance a couple of times at the door.

Eddie continued, "Also, why would--"

Eddie's face lit up and his eyes sparked like a little puppy; His whole face became softer as it looked like his heart was doing flips in his chest. Richie called this look of Eddie's as _‘The Stupid Look'_.

When the front door of the shop opened, Richie didn't have to turn to see who entered, or he didn't have to wait for Bill or Eddie to say anything; Richie knew exactly who came in the front door just by Eddie's changed expression; The Stupid Look.

"Hi, Winter..." Richie greeted without looking over at the door, he just kept his eyes on Eddie's face.

"Hey, guys!" came Winter's feminine voice.

Richie continued to keep his eyes on Eddie's face; His lips turned upwards into a smile and love took over his entire presence, as he glowed. Again... known as The Stupid Look.

Richie finally turned to Winter; She was wearing her sleek sunglasses, a black tank-top and fitted jean shorts. Her lips were bright with a bright red lipstick and her hair was tied back in a messy pony-tail. She was carrying a coffee-tray with their favourite drinks in them.

"Hey, W-Winter!" Bill greeted.

"I brought you guys some cold drinks from Starbucks!" she smiled sweetly. She went over to Bill, and put down his venti black iced-coffee.

Then she went to Richie and set down a venti double-shot on ice with cream.

"Thanks, doll face!" Richie said, happily, but continued to glance over at Eddie.

"Y-You d-didn't have to, Winter!" Bill smiled. He was happy to have something cold with caffeine in it, though.

Winter smiled as she lifted her sunglasses to rest on the top of her head, and looked at Bill; "It's okay! I had to come anyway and get some stuff from Edz for Henry's Birthday party tomorrow!"

Eddie walked from the back of the counter and stood a few feet to the side of her with his smile beaming at her, waiting for her to go over to him.

As Richie looked between Eddie looking at her, and Winter answering Bill, he thought; _'You better go over to greet Eddie, Winter. He's looking at you like a puppy with his tail wagging, just waiting for you to go say hi and pet his head...'_

Winter smiled at Eddie as she turned to him and walked over to him. She took his venti frappe drink from the coffee tray; "And here's your weird cocktail of coffee and flavours blended together with ice..." she handed it to him.

Richie continued to watch their conversation, keeping his eyes glued on them and observing everything. _'Hmm... She has a stupid look when she looks at him, too... It's just not as stupid as his look, but it's still stupid...'_

Eddie took the drink from her hand, and smiled, "You're a life saver! It's a coffee frappe with one pump of vanilla and one pump of caramel, right?"

Eddie took a sip of his drink.

"Yes! Okay, good! I did get it right!" she giggled.

Eddie looked at her after taking a sip, "It's really good! Do you want to have a sip? I guarantee it'll be your new Starbucks drink after you try it."

Winter softly smiled and took the drink. She tried a sip, as Eddie smiled at her.

 _'Strike One--"_ Richie thought; _'Eddie took a sip from the straw, and then got Winter to take a sip... He probably tongued the shit out of that straw when he took a sip from it, planning to get her to take a sip, too.'_

Winter looked at the drink as she swallowed the liquid, and then handed it back to Eddie, who took another sip after she gave it back to him.

 _'Hmm... Eddie, is this PG spit-swap getting you excited?'_ Richie wondered.

Everything seemed to be going in slow-motion for Richie as he watched everything happening in front of him. This had never happened to him before as he watched Eddie and Winter talking, but he was feeling his gut fill up with anxiety and old feelings surfacing from high school for the two of them.

Winter was Richie's first and only female crush, who to this day, he confides in with all the details of his life that no one else knows about. Eddie was Richie's first male crush. After seeing Eddie jacking off in the library washroom in 1997, Richie realized that he was more attracted to guys than girls. But, why was this interaction between the two of them making Richie fill up with different feelings and anxiety? He didn't know why, but it bugged him, and he wondered if it had to do with his mid-life crisis that everyone was saying he was going through.

"It's pretty good," Winter said, "You might have changed my Starbucks life forever."

Eddie smiled as he took the coffee tray from her hand and put it in the trash, so she didn't have to take it back out with her to her car.

He walked back over to her after setting his drink on the counter where he was working; "I'll just go out to my car and get the stuff you need for the party tomorrow," Eddie began to walk to the front door with his car keys in his hand.

"It's cool; I'll come with you," Winter followed behind.

Eddie looked at her, "It's no problem. I'll just bring it back here, so you don't have to do the walk."

"No, it's fine; I want to go for the walk," Winter protested.

"It's air-conditioned in here, though," Eddie.

Winter smirked, "Do you have something in your car that you don't want me to see? Like a dead body or something?"

Eddie stopped at the door and looked at her; He beamed an amused smile to her over that question; "Well, now you have to come with me, so I can clear my name if there's any missing people in Derry."

Winter giggled at his response as Eddie smiled at her, and opened the door for her.

Richie watched the two of them walk past the window as they chatted and giggled. He looked down to the binder in front of him, and mocked in a fast and high-pitch voice; " _'...Like a dead body or something?', 'Now you have to come with me, so I can clear my name if there's any missing people in Derry!' Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... 'Hey, Winter, while we're at my car, you wanna touch my cock?'_ "

Bill looked at Richie.

Richie looked at the time on his phone; "Two-fifteen... Timer goes on now to see how long he's out there for."

"A-Are y-you okay, R-Richie?" Bill asked.

"Oh, yeah! I'm great!" Richie said quickly before going back to the binder. "I bet he wants her to slobber all over his dick like how he slobbered all over his straw before she took a sip of his drink."

Bill blinked; "You know they've been really close friends since she saved his life, right? Like, they're not going to do anything together behind Henry's back."

"Yep, sure!" Richie said quickly before aggressively turning pages in the binder.

Bill slowly looked from Richie to the laptop screen in front of him. He quietly dug into his pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He opened it up, and read a line from Henry in 2012, that said:

_'When it's almost my time, you'll see a change in Richie's behaviour towards Eddie and Winter. Keep an eye on him, but don't meddle, or else it could make things worse... Just keep an eye on him and try to guide his attention away from them.'_

He picked up his iPhone, and texted Mike:

_'You know how Henry left us those letters? I'm not 100% sure, but it seems like Richie's becoming suspicious of Winter and Eddie's friendship... I think the things in the letter are starting to happen...'_

Mike would have been back in Derry for Henry's Birthday party tomorrow.

Bill waited for Mike to get back to him. Within two minutes, Mike texted back with just one word:

 **Mike Hanlon _:_** _'Shit...'_

Outside, in the store's back parking lot, Eddie and Winter had walked to the trunk of Eddie's 2029 Black Toyota 86 Sports Car.

Eddie was taking out bags of snacks and utensils he had bought from the grocery store.

"I was thinking of just taking Henry out to the basketball courts at The Derry Boardwalk while you're getting everything ready at your house tomorrow afternoon," Eddie said. "When you're ready for us to come back to the house, just text me."

Winter nodded as she took the bags that Eddie was handing her and putting them in the trunk of her 2026 Dark Red Nissan that she had parked beside Eddie's car.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan!" she smiled, "Thanks for your help, Edz!"

"Anytime!" he smiled. "So I got that gift for Henry that you and me were going to split between the two of us."

"Oh, my God!" she went over to him excitedly, "Let's see!"

Eddie pulled out a basketball; Every single player from The Los Angelos Lakers had signed the ball, also writing **_'Happy 50th Birthday, Henry!'_** on the front.

"Wow!" Winter exclaimed, "How did you get them to do this?!"

Eddie shrugged, "Just got to know the right people and know how much to offer them."

"How much do I owe you for this?" Winter.

"Give me one-hundred," he smiled.

"Edz, we agreed on splits! There is no way this was a two-hundred-dollar present! How much was it?"

Eddie's lips trembled as he looked at her, not wanting to give her the actual answer.

"Edz..." she sighed at his expression, knowing it was probably a lot of money, "How much was this?"

"Four-grand..." he admitted; Winter's eyes went wide; "And that was a discounted price! I really had to bargain with them. They actually wanted ten-grand."

Winter continued to stare at him, not knowing what to say. Her limit was going to be five-hundred.

"It's okay, Winter!" Eddie smiled, "Just give me one-hundred, and Henry never has to know how much it really was! You know I'm good for spending money like this!"

Winter sighed, as she began to half smile at him; "Why do you always spend so much money on us?"

Eddie smiled, and said honestly; "I don't have a family. You guys have always been my family, and I love your family. Also, you feed me dinners, invite me over to your place almost everyday, you helped me through my divorce, you basically put me through a rehabilitation at your house to get me off all my old meds, and helped me when I didn't know what to do for the rest of my life. Plus, the both of you saved my life."

Winter softly smiled at him, "Now you got me wondering how much money you spend on me on my Birthdays."

Eddie let out a laugh, "I can't out-due Henry; He would murder me."

Winter giggled; "Maybe you need a girlfriend to spoil?" Then she smirked at him, jokingly, as she nudged his arm playfully, "Instead of always spoiling my husband."

Eddie laughed loudly; "Well..." he tried to think of something to say as he admired her. He continued on, "Well, if I find someone who doesn't look at me for my money, then that would be a start." He feared if she knew the real reason why he couldn't get through a first date, she might never want to talk to him again.

Winter smiled at him, "When you're on your next first date, at the end of the date, say you forgot your wallet at home. See how she reacts after you say that. It will be the moment to see if it's worth a second date." She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down once, "Plus, you get a free meal!"

Eddie continued to smile at her with his goofy and excited gaze that he had only for her. He had been looking to find a woman that gave him the same feelings she did, but after so many first dates, that feeling was never found in another person. He didn't think he would ever find that feeling in anyone else, so he settled for the idea that maybe he didn't have a love of his life. Eddie was okay with it, as he always kept busy working and visiting The Bowers. Even if he did find a girlfriend, he would still be spending most of his time at The Bowers anyway, since they were his family.

But, the way even Winter looked at him always made his stomach fill up with butterflies. He knew that she didn't know that she looked at him with a softer gaze in her eyes. Eddie knew there was some sort of admiration in her gaze at him. Where that admiration came from, he had no idea, but it was locked in a vault deep in her heart, and he respected the shit out of that, as they both wouldn't do anything to hurt Henry.

After a moment of silence between the two of them, she leaned back on the back of his car and hugged the basketball to her stomach. She brought up, "I have something strange I wanted to tell you about."

Intrigued, Eddie turned to look at her as he leaned the side of his body on his trunk and gazed at her. He smiled; "I love strange things. What is it?"

She turned her head and looked at him; "Ever since the past week or so, I've been having the same dream every night..." she gazed at him, unsure whether it was a good idea to tell him or not, but she went on; "You and me are both in our thirties, in the sewers, and we're sitting on the ground talking to each other. Except, we're separated by a glass wall, and we have no idea why there's a glass wall between us."

Eddie's lips parted open as flashes went through his mind;

_"Edz?" She put her hand to the glass; "Why is there glass?"_

_"I don't know..." Eddie said as he stared into her eyes, "Maybe it's a symbol of something... Maybe it's a wall we're not supposed to break between each other yet."_

Eddie dropped his keys to the ground as he felt like he had deja vu.

He had been having the same dream, too, but in the dreams, they’re not talking; They're just waiting to figure out how to get to each other. It was weird for Eddie, though, because as she said her dream to him, the flash he witnessed just now was of them talking.

He bent down to pick up his keys, and looked back at her as he got up; "That's really strange... I had the same dream, too." As they took a moment to look into each other’s eyes over the weird coincidence, Eddie said, "It's probably just..."

_"I think everything happens for a reason, and the universe has our lives planned out for us... Like, I don't think what happened between us was random, but it was mean't to happen."_

"Just some weird unexplainable dreams?" Winter suggested, as Eddie had fallen quiet while he could hear Winter's voice in his head from the sewers.

' _What is that?'_ he wondered.

Eddie nodded slowly, still trying to fathom the visions happening in his mind; "Yeah, probably... I can't think of any other reason for them."

Winter nodded and smiled at him; "Okay! Cool! I just wanted to get the dreams off of my chest. It's odd that you're having the same dream, though..." she shrugged.

Eddie stared at her, still trying to figure out where the dreams, and the visions he just had, came from. They felt so real, but he could never remember them happening in real life.

After a little moment of silence, Winter pulled out her phone to e-transfer Eddie the money for the signed basketball.

_She kissed her index finger and middle finger, and then pressed it against the glass towards his lips. "I'll never forget what we had together."_

Eddie cleared his throat as he stared at her with visions still going through his mind; "So, in your dream, we're just sitting there separated by glass? Are we talking?"

Winter looked up from her phone to him, "Yeah, but the glass is so thick that we can't hear each other."

Eddie nodded, still feeling perplexed over this. It was the same in his dreams, but during these visions going through his head, they are talking. He just didn't know what they were talking about. He was always a man of logic, but he couldn't find any logical explanation for this.

As he tried to stop thinking about it, three words kept appearing in his mind. Slowly, as she kept her eyes on her phone, he said, "The... The..." he kept trying to think of the words as they came to him; "The... Turtle... Effect...?"

Winter looked up at him from her phone after sending him the money; "The who-ha-what-now?" she smiled, not understanding what he was trying to say.

Eddie looked at her and laughed, "The who-ha-what? The who-ha! That's exactly what I was trying to say!" he joked.

Winter giggled at him, "I don't know! What were you trying to say?"

Eddie let out a laugh and just shook his head, trying to brush off whatever he was trying to say, "I don't know. I'm just gonna go back to work and drink my coffee. I think I just need some caffeine."

Winter smiled sweetly at him; "Sounds like a good idea."

As they walked over to Winter's car, Eddie said; "Don't drop the ball; It was a lot of money."

Winter smirked at him as she opened her trunk; She said, sarcastically, "Oh yeah, because God forbid I drop a basketball."

Eddie bursted out laughing, "OH, MAN!" He stared at her with a smile and shook his head at her sarcastic remark.

 _'Oh man, she's been driving me crazy for thirty-three years...'_ Eddie smiled adoringly at her as he watched her put the ball in the trunk.

"Make sure to wrap that nicely so Henry can't figure out what it is," he smirked. He knew it was impossible to make a ball not look like a ball when it's wrapped.

Winter giggled as she went over to give Eddie a quick hug, "I'll do my best!"

Eddie hugged her back; "I'll see you later." He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her in closer. She always smelled like vanilla.

"You too!" she smiled with her arms wrapped around his warm shoulders.

As Eddie watched Winter drive out of the parking lot to go back home, he pulled out his phone to look at the e-transfer she had sent him.

**Winter Bowers e-transfered you $2,000**

**Optional Message:** _An agreement is an agreement, and we agreed on splits! No worries; I'm a doctor, so I'm good for it :P ! Thanks!_

Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes, and then began to lightly laugh as he walked back to the store; "She drives me crazy..."


	52. CH.3/PT.5: Henry's Fiftieth Birthday Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, check out the first book in the series to see Henry, Winter and the Losers when they were in high school:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839791/chapters/52121185
> 
> PS. Remember... I LOVE RICHIE!! I just really need to tell this story tho! LOL!

** **

** Friday May 23, 2031 (PRESENT DAY) -- 1PM -- Winter **

"Winter, tell me more about that day when you saved Edz life in 2012..." Doctor Williams suggested. "I find it interesting that you were only a Nurse Practitioner during that time, and you took the risk to get arrested and to lose your RN license, so you could save Edz life. Why did you risk your whole life to save him?"

I looked at her, and told her, "I didn't want to lose him. It scared me. I don't know why it scared me so much, because I hadn't seen him in fifteen years, but I was so scared that he was going to die." 

Doctor Williams could see the tear in my eye as I reflected on that day; "If it were any of your other friends, would you go to the lengths you did, on that day, like you did for Edz?" 

"I would for Henry..." I thought about Bev, Bill, Richie, Mike and Ben; "I don't know if I would have risked my whole life to try to save the others... Maybe... I just know it was the worst fear I ever felt in my life thinking that Edz could have died..." I pursed my lips. 

"You have only been intimate, and have only kissed, Henry since you were sixteen, correct? But, on that day in the operating room with Edz, after only seeing him for two days after fifteen years of not seeing each other, why did you decide to kiss him before you started surgery?" she asked. 

Images kept flashing through my mind of my dreams that I have; Edz is married, he's cheating on his wife with me, and I'm unsure if Henry is alive, dead, moved on, or looking for me... The dreams feel so real, but they're only dreams. 

"I don't know..." I paused. "I was scared he was going to die, and I just really wanted to kiss him... It didn't feel like we hadn't seen each other in fifteen years for some reason..."

"Did you ever tell Henry about the kiss?" 

"No." 

"Did you and Edz ever talk about the kiss after that day?" Doctor Williams. 

"We did last Thursday, the day before I went to see Richie and had my accident. Edz and I never spoke about the kiss for ninteen years, though..." I told her. 

"What did you feel during that kiss, Winter?" she asked. 

I thought about that day in the operating room, when my gut filled up with so many butterflies as he held my hand to his heart and he looked at me like I was the love of his life. 

"It was a really nice kiss..." I smiled softly. "I never forgot about it, and I always knew that Edz never forgot either." 

"Do you think you were in love with Edz during the time you've been married to Henry?" she asked. 

I pursed my lips as I began to start to cry; My heart was only supposed to belong to Henry. I didn't want to answer this question. 

"You know, Winter, developing feelings can be unavoidable sometimes. We're humans; We develop feelings. It doesn't make you a bad person if you also loved your friend while you were married. As long as you didn't act on those feelings during your marriage, there's nothing to be ashamed of..." she said empathically to me. 

I shook my head as tears ran down my face, "I don't want to answer that." 

Doctor Williams nodded, making a note to ask that question another day after trying to get Winter to make more emotional break-throughs.

"On Thursday night, before you saw Richie on Friday evening, would you say you were in love with Edz?" she asked. 

I took a moment to think about that question... I couldn't answer it. 

She noticed my long pause from the question.

"Do you think that Henry's spirit is watching you moving on, and you can't cope with the idea that Henry might know that you might have feelings for his best friend?" she suggested, "Is that why you have such a hard time answering questions about your feelings for Edz?" 

My eyes were red at this point as I looked at her, and I nodded. 

"That's also something Richie put into your head, isn't it?" she asked. "I have a feeling Richie said a lot of things that night to you that made you confused, angry, made you take a few steps back in your grieving process, and ultimately could have killed you... Would you say that's true?" 

My face dropped into my hands as I cried out-loud softly. I nodded my head with so much guilt; The guilt that Richie put there. It wasn't only guilt... It was a lot of things he put in my head that I can't believe he would ever say to me, about me, about Eddie, about Henry. 

"Okay, Winter..." Doctor Williams started, "Eddie has given me a goal that he wants to achieve by the end of these four weeks.. I can't share with you what it is, but I think I know what your goal is going to be..." 

I looked up to her with my wet eyes. 

"...And that is to have an emotional break-through when it comes to your feelings for Edz. I think we need to clean up the mess that Richie left in your head."

I bit my lip, as I nodded. 

"Can you tell me about Henry's fiftieth Birthday party?"

** Saturday May 4, 2030 **

**Edz Kaspbrak:** _'Just parking in the driveway. Be in the backyard in a minute or two.'_

Winter put down her phone and looked towards Bev, Bill, Ben, Richie, Mike, Kyle and Jamie; "Okay, guys! Edz is coming with Henry right now!" 

"Winter, do you have ice?" Richie asked, holding his Whiskey bottle, wishing he could cool down the liquid from the hot sun. Then, he smiled at the irony of her name with the question; "Of course you have ice, you're the Winter!" He laughed, "That's a good one..." Then he looked at her seriously, "So, yeah, Winter, I need ice." 

"Of course we have ice, Richie. Just wait until we say surprise!" Winter said.

Richie made a very surprised face at her; "Surprise!" Then his expression went to normal, "Now can I go get some ice?" 

"Mom, I can't connect to the Wifi out here for some reason!" Jamie said with her phone in hand. "I wanted to TikTok us saying surprise to dad!" 

"There should be Wifi out here, Jamie. Your dad and I know how much the Wifi means to you kids," Winter said, continuing to push everyone in a group together. 

"I kicked the router by accident when mom called us all out here," Kyle admitted.

"You're such a klutz, Ky!" Jamie huffed. 

"Says the one who bashed her head into an opening door yesterday when dad and Eddie came in the house, because you had your music too loud in your ears!" Kyle protested. 

Richie bursted out a laugh; "Did you get that on TikTok?" 

"Oh, my God!" Bev laughed, "I feel like that's something that would have happened to your mom, but your mom would be singing at the top of her lungs, and wouldn't hear the door!" 

"Ha ha!" Winter laughed sarcastically. "Now, just, please, they're going to be here soon!" 

"Winter, is Henry's brother and sister coming?" Mike.

"No, they came last night," Winter said quickly.

"Winter, I really need some ice; This is taking forever," Richie said. 

"Richie, just chill!" Winter.

"I would chill if I had ice!" Richie. "That's what ice does -- It chills!"

"I-I need sunscreen a-after we do this," Bill said, looking at his reddening arms.

Winter began to back away from the group, so they could all see her short body, as she went on to explain; "When Edz and Henry come up here--" 

Everyones eyes went above Winter's head and it all became silent.

"We all need to say--"

Someone behind her cleared their throat. 

Winter slowly turned her head around.

Eddie was smiling at the chaos happening in the little group on the patio. 

Henry was beside him, looking at everyone with an amused expression, looking like he was trying not to laugh. 

Richie beamed the biggest smile and enthusiastic expression he could come up with in that awkward moment; "SURPRISE! YAY! HAPPY FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY! GO, HENRY!" Then he looked at Winter quickly and headed for the backdoor into the kitchen, "I did my part! Time for ice!" 

Winter spun around to face them with a smile, trying to take away the awkward vibe in the group; "Surprise!" she threw up her arms. 

"Surprise!" the rest of the group said just as awkwardly. 

"S-Sur-Surprise!" Bill said, "Sorry, I m-missed the que..."

Jamie went up to Winter; "Is this a good time to tell dad that Ky disconnected the Wifi?" 

Both Eddie and Henry began to laugh.

As the party went on that afternoon, everyone went into their own little groups to chat and catch up. 

"YOU READY?!" Winter yelled over to Jamie on the other side of the pool. 

Jamie and Winter had planned to try and make the biggest cannon ball splash they could.

"THREE... TWO..." Jamie counted down, "ONE!"

Jamie and Winter both cannon balled in the pool at the same time. 

Richie and Bev were sitting on a towel right by the pool when the big splash hit them slightly. 

Bev bursted out laughing. 

"Who knew two tiny people could make such a huge splash!" Richie whipped the water from out of his hair. 

"It's so nice to feel the water on such a hot day," Bev smiled as she watched Jamie and Winter pop out from underneath the water laughing together. "She made such a cool, fun, mom." 

Richie looked over to Henry barbecuing on the patio, and Eddie sitting on the railing as they talked and laughing about whatever it was they were talking about. 

Richie observed Eddie in his white t-shirt and black shorts. Even from the distance Richie sat on the ground, he could see Eddie's small chest hairs poking out from the top of the collar that rested just underneath his collarbone. He still didn't shave the bristles on his face and neck, making the bristles a bit longer than a five o'clock shadow. Richie assumed that Eddie would be shaving tonight or tomorrow morning, since that was usually the max he would grow out his facial hair. He wondered how he would look if he kept growing it out. 

"Stop looking at her..." Richie said to himself under his breath.

"What?" Bev asked, as she put her feet in the water. 

Richie turned to Bev, as he continued to glance at Winter swimming around with Jamie in her two-piece bathing suit and Eddie glancing over to her. 

"Eddie looks over at Winter every ten seconds," he said, taking another sip from his Whiskey. 

Bev looked at Eddie, and then looked at Winter. She looked back at Richie; "How can you even tell? Eddie's wearing sunglasses. I can't even tell who he's looking at." 

"OH!" Richie let out an annoyed laugh, "He's DEFINITELY looking at her!"

Bev smiled at Richie, "Richie, she's a beautiful woman, and she's wearing a bikini! Even Ben is probably looking at her." 

"Not every ten seconds, though." He quickly looked at Winter as he said to Bev, "I'm going to do an experiment!" He tried to get her attention, "PSSST! Winter!"

Winter looked over at Richie, and then swam over to him. She poked her upper body from out of the pool at the side Richie and Bev were sitting, "What's up?" 

"I can tell you exactly what's up!" He said, referring to Eddie's penis. "Can you come up here on the towel, take off your bikini top, and just perk your tits up to the sky quickly like you're on a nude beach?" Richie asked. 

Winter bursted out laughing; "What the hell? I'm not doing that!" 

"Oh, my God, Richie!" Bev laughed, "That's ridiculous!" 

"I just want you to do this..." he laid back with his arms keeping his upper-body popped up, "Pump your chest to the sky, and then let your head fall back..." he threw his head back, "Kind of like a Baywatch girl..." He looked at Winter's unsure, yet amused, face; "Come on! You're rocking fifty! You look like a mix of Wyrona Ryder and Carmen Electra all mashed together in one sexy hot package." 

Winter lifted herself up onto the edge of the pool and kept her feet in the water; "I'm not doing that, Richie. Why do you want me to do that?" 

Richie quickly looked over to Eddie now that Winter was sitting at the edge of the pool. Even with Eddie's sunglasses on, Richie still knew he was staring at Winter. 

Richie looked back at Winter; "I wanna see who will look over." 

"Richie, EVERYONE is going to look over if I did that!" she laughed. 

Bev started, "Richie, I guarantee even Ben would look over, and no one is going to be able to stop looking! That would be the dumbest experiment ever." 

Richie smiled at Winter, trying his best to convince her; "Come on, Winter. Everyone is doing it.. Rebecca Macintosh is doing it... Chelsea Richer is doing it..." 

This was a game Richie always played with Winter whenever he was trying to get her to give into peer-pressure. He would name random girls he remembered from high school. 

"Carly Applegate is doing it... Even Greta Keene is doing it..." Richie smiled. 

Winter played along to his game, like she usually did, and smiled; "Greta Keene is doing it?" 

Richie smiled more as he joked, "Oh yeah! I see her from Eddie, Bill's and my house with her perky tits to the sky every morning in her backyard. She aims them right to the sun." 

Winter and Bev bursted out laughing. 

"I don't know, Richie..." Winter smiled, trying to amuse him, "I mean, if Greta's doing it... I guess I would have to do it if I want to be the most popular girl in school, right?" 

Richie smiled more, "Winter, you would be invited to the popular girls table everyday at lunch. I even guarantee that you would make prom queen if you did it." 

Winter said in a valley-girl voice, "I've always wanted to be one of the popular girls..." 

"Just gotta show them show-stoppers, doll face!" Richie.

"You guys are so hilarious together!" Bev laughed, "Oh, my God!" 

Winter laughed, "As much as I would love to be sitting at the popular girls lunch table, Richie, I'm going to pass on taking out my boobs in front of a backyard full of men, and my children. I'm pretty sure Henry would be running over with a towel to cover me up." 

Richie placed his hand over his heart and looked at her disappointedly; "You kill me, Winter! I thought I almost convinced you." 

Winter snorted, "Yeah, right!" 

Winter got up, and grabbed her light green summer dress that fell to her thighs. She put it over her body, and put her hands through her hair to dry it out a little bit. 

"He's still looking..." Richie said. 

"Richie, I think the only one who's looking at Winter is you," Bev said. "It's impossible to see what Eddie's looking at with those shades on." 

"Oh... Bevy..." Richie shook his head, "He's looking... Just keep watching." 

Bev and Richie watched as Winter walked up to the patio to talk to Henry and Eddie. 

"Hey, baby..." Winter went up to Henry as he was barbecuing and wrapped her arms around his midsection; "Are you having a good party?" 

Henry placed his arm around her shoulders and brought her in to kiss the top of her head; "Of course, babe. If you threw it, then it's the best party I could ever ask for." 

Winter smiled, and kissed his cheek; "Did you win playing basketball with Edz this afternoon?" She quickly looked at Eddie sitting on the railing, smiling as he listened and looking around the backyard at everyone. 

Henry let out a little laugh; "Do you have to ask?" 

Winter laughed. 

Eddie laughed, "I've beat you at a game before, man!" 

"Eddie, that was when I was teaching you how to play. I needed you to have a few victories so you kept playing ball with me!" Henry laughed. "Did the Karate Kid ever win against Mr. Miyagi?" 

Winter laughed at the reference as she listened and watched Henry flipping burgers and hot dogs. 

"See, babe..." Henry began, "Mr. Miyagi taught the Karate Kid how to win by fighting him, but he never took down Mr. Miyagi." 

Winter snorted, "Don't worry, Edz, I'm sure you would be Mr. Miyagi in a game of Magic The Gathering against Henry." 

"Exactly!" Eddie smiled, "There's a Mr. Miyagi in all of us." 

"How inspirational!" Henry laughed. 

"Someone has to bring that 1980's inspiration to a fifty-year-olds Birthday party, man!" Eddie joked. 

"Oh, wow!" Henry laughed, "You're not far behind! In two Birthday's, it will be you who goes into the backyard with a whole bunch of people looking like they don't know what they're supposed to do, awkwardly saying 'Surprise' to you!" 

"Babe!" Winter laughed, "We tried really hard! Everyone was complaining about something when I was trying to get them all prepared!" 

Eddie and Henry laughed. 

"I wish I recorded that!" Eddie laughed, "I think that made my whole year... You know, other than you trying to Rap with Richie." 

"Don't remind me, Edz!" Winter laughed. 

"And, what tops the surprise all off, is the second after everyone awkwardly shouts out 'surprise', I have two teenagers coming up to me; _'Dad, can you fix the Wifi? I can't TikTok or Instagram!'_ " Henry laughed. 

Winter and Eddie laughed. 

Henry looked at Winter happily, "But I wouldn't change it for the world!" He kissed her cheek. 

Winter smiled at him, "It's kind of cool to think that, in September, Kyle and Jamie will be in college, so it'll feel like it's just the two of us again." 

Henry beamed a smile, "It's so bitter-sweet that they're leaving, but at the same time, thank God!" He hugged her tighter into him. "I can't wait for that break from the kids to spend it just with you..." And then he looked at Eddie, "And, Eddie."

"Can't forget Edz!" Winter laughed. 

"Yes, don't forget me!" he laughed. 

Winter looked at Eddie, as he turned around, seeing Richie and Bev looking over at him; Once he looked over, they glanced away. 

"Edz, were you tanning today?" Winter could see red at the back of his neck, going down his back. "Your back is really burnt." 

"Oh shit! Is it?" 

As Richie watched, he said to Bev; "I think this is where I'm going to catch them!" 

Bev rolled her eyes. 

"I can read lips... I think..." Richie watched as Winter was tugging at the fabric of Eddie's shirt. "She said, _'Edz, were you waning today? Your sack is burnt'_..." He looked at Bev, "Doesn't waning have something to do with a sexual dysfunction? Is that why his sack is burnt?" 

Bev looked at Richie questionably to his lip-reading, "I doubt that's what she said to him... and not in front of Henry!" 

Winter looked at Henry, "Don't we have aloe in the house somewhere?" 

Henry nodded as he thought about where it was; "Yeah, I think it's on the counter in the kitchen." 

"Edz, come in the kitchen; I'll put aloe on it so it turns into a tan instead of a burn," she smiled at him. 

Richie said out-loud to Bev, "She said, _'Edz, cum in the itch... I'll put all of you in it...'_ and then something about a turn..." 

Richie continued to watch as Eddie followed Winter into the kitchen. Right when he closed the screen-door behind him, he took his shirt off. 

"I knew it!" Richie exclaimed to Bev, "I knew it!" 

Bev twisted her face at Richie, "Richie, how's your crisis going?" 

Richie shook his head, "Oh, what they're doing behind Henry's back is the real crisis, sweetheart!" He looked at her, "We need to give them a minute so they can get started. That way, when we catch them in the middle of it, we can actually say we witnessed it." 

"Witnessed what, Richie?" Bev asked. "I think you're blowing things out of proportion." 

"Bevy, there's definitely blowing, but it's not me." 

Bev's eyes went wide at that response. "Richie, you better be careful with what you say; Eddie or Henry might hear you and punch you out."

"The only one who's going to get punched out is Eddie, when Henry catches him! Come on! Let's get to the bottom of this!" Richie unsteadily got up from his spot. He didn't realize how much Whiskey he actually drank until he got up. 

In the kitchen, Eddie was sitting topless on a chair as Winter put some aloe on her hands to put on his back. 

Eddie was laughing as he heard a crack from his ribcage; "Oh, my God! Did you hear that? Every time my ribcage cracks, I know it's because of you from when you beat the shit out of my chest that day when I died." 

Winter laughed, "Seriously? You can still feel that?" 

"Oh, trust me, every time I move weird, and it cracks, I immediately think of you almost breaking my ribcage in half to restart my heart!" Eddie laughed as he looked over to Winter. "Every time I bring it up to the others, they start cringing." 

Winter smiled; "Yeah, I think I traumatized everyone when I started pounding your chest with everything that I had in me." 

"Who knew you beating the shit out of my chest would save my life?" he smiled admiringly at her. 

"This might be a little cold, Edz..." She began to lather the cold jell on Eddie's burnt back. 

Eddie sighed happily, "That feels so good..." 

The screen door opened up and then was slammed shut; "I bet it fucking feels really good!" 

Eddie and Winter looked at Richie, who was staring at them with anger in his eyes. Right behind him was Bev, who was looking at Eddie and Winter like she didn't know what was going on with Richie. 

Bev locked eyes with Winter, and she shrugged, confused. She motioned to the half empty bottle of Whiskey in Richie's hand and pretended to drink from an invisible bottle. 

"What the fuck, man?" Eddie asked Richie, confused to his outburst at them. 

"Did you need any aloe or sunscreen lotion put on, Richie?" Winter asked. 

Richie's look turned very monotoned as he pointed from the bottle of aloe to Eddie's back; "You're just putting aloe on his burn?" 

"Yeah..." Eddie said, annoyed. 

Richie nodded slowly, and then leaned his back against the fridge, "Okay, continue on. I'll just be here chaperoning." 

Silence fell between Winter and Eddie as Richie kept his eyes on them. It made them feel very uncomfortable with his eyes on them like a hawk. 

Bev, feeling uncomfortable herself, went back outside to the patio to sit with Bill, Ben and Mike, as Henry continued to barbecue, and Kyle was sitting on the patio step on his phone. 

"That burn should be turned into a tan by tomorrow!" Winter smiled after rubbing in the gel on his skin. "Did you want any sunscreen?" she asked. 

Eddie smiled, "Yeah, that would be great!" 

Winter began to lather sunscreen on Eddie's back as he remained sitting on the chair. "All this back rubbing is making me think I need to go in for a massage," Eddie laughed, sighing happily to the feeling of her hands rubbing his back, trying to shake off the fact that Richie was watching them. 

"Are you going to put sunscreen on her?" Richie asked from the fridge. 

What a weird question. It felt like he was hoping he would. 

Eddie looked at Richie, and smiled, even though he felt awkward; "Henry would kill me if I put lotion on her back." 

"Yeah, he probably would," Winter giggled. 

Eddie, trying to forget that Richie was being weird and watching, wanted to interact with Winter how he usually would; Playfully, like they always interacted since they were in high school. 

"Don't worry - I have a solution! I'll take the bottle, walk a few feet away, and then squirt the sunscreen on you, and you can rub it in!" he got up and quickly tried to grab the bottle that was still in her hands. 

When he grabbed the bottle, white lotion squirted out on the counter. 

"EDZ!" Winter bursted out laughing. 

Richie's eyes went wide at the lotion being squirted out from the bottle over their playfulness towards each other. 

"Oh, my God..." Richie mumbled, before taking another shot of his Whiskey. 

Winter kept her hands on the bottle as Eddie tried to take it from her; making them both laugh more. 

"Edz, I don't trust you squirting sunscreen all over me!" she laughed. "You're gonna make a mess!" 

"I think we're past making a mess!" he laughed as he looked at the counter.

As Winter was giggling too much, her grip loosened on the bottle, and Eddie was able to take it from her. 

"Edz, I will kill you if you start squirting that all over me!" Winter giggled as Eddie was pretending like he was going to squeeze a bunch of lotion on her. 

Richie began to rub at his forehead, _'Why do they keep using the word 'squirting'...?'_ he thought to himself. 

"Okay, okay, fine... Although, for someone who put in a lot of work trying to save me, I don't think you'd have the guts to kill me..." Eddie smiled. He put sunscreen on his palm and began rubbing the lotion on his chest and stomach. 

Winter smirked at his comeback, "I guess I can't argue with that."

Richie's ears turned off again, like they did in the game store the other day, as he watched Eddie and Winter interacting. It was like he developed tunnel-vision as he watched them, and his whole stomach filled up with anxiety and jealousy as he watched them laughing and being playful together. 

Richie examined Eddie's chest; All the hairs on his front were being plastered down to his skin as he continued to rub with the lotion. As well as the little line of hairs on his midsection towards his belly-button and the hairs on his stomach. As he rubbed his arms, the lotion was sticking down the dark brown hairs to his skin there, too, leaving small trails of the white lotion.

It was all going in slow motion again, as Richie watched Eddie dabbing a small amount of sunscreen on his finger, and then smudging it on Winter's nose as they both laughed. Then he dabbed some on her forehead, and her cheekbones. It seemed like their faces were inches away from each other as they giggled and they were inhaling each others breath as they became very close. 

However, what Richie was seeing was not reality. Everything he thought he was seeing was only his imagination.

As Eddie continued to dab lotion on her face playfully, Richie noticed how Eddie's cheek bristles would change on his face every time he laughed and talked; He was so manly, so attractive to look at, so charming, so different from who he was in high school. Richie didn't like this new version of Eddie, but he couldn't look away either. 

Then there was Winter; The person Richie tells his whole life to. The person he really cherished the most as she could listen and listen to him talk about his life and not get bored of the details. The way she was looking at Eddie, though, in this moment -- The way they both looked at each other -- They were secretly in love with each other, and they both didn't know it, but Richie could see it. 

Then, something else happened in Richie's point of view, as he was watching his two closest friends from high school being playful in the kitchen; The sunscreen lotion made him think of ejaculation. Every time Eddie put a new dab of lotion on Winter's nose, he imagined that Eddie was marking her -- making her his. 

Richie took off his glasses quickly and rubbed his eyes at everything he thought he was seeing.

"Jesus Christ, guys!" Richie said as he rubbed at his eyes. "Why the fuck are you doing this?"

"Are you okay, Richie?" Winter asked as she was at the sink peeling potatoes with Eddie helping her. 

Richie stared at the two of them, confused that there wasn't lotion everywhere, and Eddie had his shirt back on. 

"What happened to the sunscreen?" he asked, confused. 

Eddie looked from Richie to the sunscreen sitting on the kitchen table; "It's right there... It's been there for the past ten minutes..." He blinked at Richie; "We've been talking and peeling potatoes for about ten minutes now..."

"We've been calling your name for a few minutes, asking if you wanted to help us..." Winter said to him, concerned for his wellbeing and mental health. 

Did Winter just put the lotion on Eddie's back, and then start prepping food? Did he only just imagine them being playful with the sunscreen lotion? 

"Were you putting lotion on her face while you guys were giggling?" Richie asked. 

Both Eddie and Winter looked at him questionably; "No..." They answered together. 

"I put some on Edz back, and then we started making a potato salad together..." Winter told him. 

He quickly shook his head, and left the two of them in the kitchen, as he stormed out. 

As Richie walked down the stairs of the patio, he said out-loud to Henry; "You should put your family dog on a fucking leash before he starts humping your wife's leg!" 

Bill, Mike, Bev and Ben's eyes went wide, and everyone fell silent from Richie's comment, as they watched him walk off to the side of the house, heading to the garage. 

Mike and Bill looked at each other, nervous about Richie's behaviour. 

Henry watched Richie storming away, and then he quickly looked at Kyle who was sitting on the patio step, listening to his music on his phone, while Jamie was laying on the float in the pool, listening to music as she tanned. Henry was just happy that they didn't hear that. 

Henry tapped Kyle on the shoulder, as the rest of the party was still silent and looking at each other awkwardly.

Kyle looked up to his dad and took off his ear-buds. 

"Can you take over the barbecue for a bit?" Henry asked him, handing him the burger flippers. 

Kyle got up and headed to the barbecue to take over what his dad was doing. 

Henry quickly opened the screen door to the kitchen, and looked in to see what was happening; "Is everything okay in here?" 

Eddie and Winter looked over from the counter as they were preparing the food. 

"Yeah... Why, babe?" Winter asked. 

"What the fuck?" Henry said quietly to himself as he looked towards where Richie stormed off to, wondering what his problem was. "Was Richie being weird in here with you guys?" 

Eddie answered, "Yeah, he was watching us like a fucking hawk as Winter was putting the aloe and sunscreen on me."

Winter nodded, "Then he stared at us without blinking for about ten minutes when we started preparing the potato salad. We kept calling his name, but he wouldn't respond. It kind of looked like he went into Psychosis." She looked from Eddie, who was listening to her, to Henry who was still peeking his head through the door; "I hope he's okay... I mean, he's having his mid-life crisis, but he might want to see a doctor if he's staring off like that and getting paranoid."

"Plus he drank half a bottle of Whiskey within an hour..." Eddie added. 

Henry looked back towards where Richie walked off to, and said to Winter and Eddie; "Okay... Just thankfully the kids weren't listening to what he said when he walked out." 

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows, "What did he say?" 

Winter wanted to know, too, as she looked at her husband. 

Henry shook his head; It was better if they didn't know, "Don't worry about it." 

In the garage, Richie was standing and looking around at all of Henry's tools. He felt a moment of peace as he kept his mind on each individual tool he passed. As he passed and touched each tool, he wondered if Eddie had ever used them for anything. As the thought passed his mind, he grazed his fingers along the handle of a hammer, feeling every little bit of sensation it left on his fingertips as he thought about Eddie. 

"Hey, Richie..."

Richie turned around to Henry entering the garage. 

Bill and Mike showed up behind Henry, listening in to the conversation. 

"Listen, man; I know you're going through something right now, and I totally get it. I just turned fifty, and it fucking messes with your head -- I get it! But you can _never_ say things like that about anyone, especially about my wife, around our kids. _Ever._ " 

Richie placed his fingers on his head and said guiltily, "Sorry, man... I didn't realize I said it out-loud until I said it."

"Okay..." Henry looked down at the nearly empty bottle of Whiskey in his hand. He quickly took it away from him; "Don't drink when you're going through mental shit, man. A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man. Remember that. You know I would know that more than anybody else here."

Richie sighed, as he watched Henry walking away with his bottle of Whiskey, "Sorry I ruined your Birthday... dad..." 

Henry stopped by Bill and Mike, as he emptied out the rest of the Whiskey bottle on the grass at the side of the house, and then threw it in the recycling. He looked to the two friends staring at him; "Maybe take him to get a coffee or something. Get him to sober up." 

Mike and Bill nodded. 

"Are you feeling all right lately, Henry?" Mike asked him, concerned. 

Henry looked at him, surprised by the question; "Yeah, I feel fine... I'm great, Winter's great, kids are great... Why?" 

Bill and Mike pursed their lips as they exchanged a look. 

Wondering if Henry remembered, Bill said to Henry; "T-The letters...? From 2012...? T-The Turtle...?" 

Henry looked at them confused, "What letters? What about my pet turtle? He's dead. He died in the sewers when Pennywise died... Why are you bringing him up?"

Bill and Mike nodded, realizing that Henry had no idea what they were talking about.

Mike patted him on the shoulder, "No reason, Henry. Enjoy your Birthday," he said with a soft smile. 

"Thanks!" Henry said before walking back over to finish the last bit of the barbecuing. 

Mike and Bill went over to Richie. 

"Hey, Richie, why don't you start walking to Starbucks, and we'll be right behind you," Mike said to him. 

"A-Are you okay t-to get there by yourself?" Bill asked him. 

"Yeah, I'm not shitfaced or anything..." Richie said, as he began to walk down the driveway and down the street. 

Mike and Bill looked at each other when Richie was out of listening-range. 

"F-Fuck, Mike..." Bill breathed deeply, "I'm st-starting to have a fucking p-panic attack!" 

Mike put his hand to his own forehead as he tried to think, "We knew Henry and Eddie weren't going to remember after the day Eddie was in the hospital to get his kidney removed, that the turtle showed them both the future..." Mike breathed deeply, feeling panic himself as he tried to collect his thoughts, "Those letters Henry left us was so we could remember as much as possible... He left this task with us to make sure things go smoothly between Winter, Eddie, and Richie, so Winter doesn't kill herself after Henry dies." 

"M-Mike, I'm already freaking out! D-Don't bring that up!" Bill said as he paced on the driveway. "W-W-What the f-f-fuck, man?! Does this mean Henry is going t-to die soon?!" He motioned to where Richie walked off to, "He's already showing the s-s-signs that Henry warned us about!" 

"We don't know when it's going to happen, Bill!" Mike said with a supportive hand on Bill's shoulder. "Henry, Eddie or Winter don't remember the parallel universe we all lived in after Henry killed himself when he needed to get rid of Ace, Belch and Vic. The universe became corrected after the turtle died. Eddie and Winter have no idea that they once had a relationship, because it hasn't happened yet." Mike sighed, "But sometimes they look at each other like they're in love, but I'm pretty sure they don't realize it. I'm thinking that if they are in love now, even if they don't know it, it's a good sign that things are going to go as they're supposed to after Henry dies, right? Eddie's going to take Winter from out of her darkness?"

"W-What if they start to r-r-remember the relationship in that parallel universe?" Bill asked, trying to calm down. 

"Then we show them the envelopes that Henry left us for them, so they understand." Mike looked at Bill, "As for Richie, we just need to set him on the right path, so his crisis doesn't mess up what the universe already has in store for Winter and Eddie." He blew out some air, "We just need to figure out how to do that without meddling too much. If Richie meddles too much, or if any of us meddle too much, then Winter's going to end her life, and that's going to be the worst thing to happen to Eddie and the kids... It'll be hard on all of us, but it will be worse for them."

"Oh, my G-God, dude..." Bill sighed. "I f-feel like our lives are like a fucking game of Jumanji." 

Mike sighed, "Let's go meet up with Richie and make sure he sobers up."

After the party ended, Winter was sitting out in the big backyard hammock to let herself wind down after hosting. As she sat there in the darkness of the night with the dim white lights hanging in the tree above her, she played on her phone, posting photos from the party on Facebook and tagging everyone. 

She could hear Henry and Eddie watching the end of their movie that they were watching together when the party left. They had been watching _'Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood',_ and Winter could hear the movie through the open windows. During the last twenty minutes of the movie, all she could hear was Henry and Eddie laughing loudly and clapping their hands as they laughed during the Brad Pitt, Leonardo Dicaprio, and The Manson Family fight scene at the end. 

Hearing their explosions of contagious laughter that went on for a solid twenty minutes made Winter giggle as she played on her phone. She loved that Henry had a friend like Eddie that Henry could feel comfortable around to laugh out like he did when he was around. Even when Winter knew Henry in high school, she was his only friend. He was good friends with Mike for a couple of years, but Henry never had a real close friendship until him and Eddie started hanging out. The past eighteen years, they really did grow up together, and their personality, likes and tastes in things morphed together, creating a really great friendship. 

Winter looked up at the sliding back door, and she saw Eddie leaving to go home. 

"Is the movie done, Edz?" Winter smiled at him. 

Eddie looked over to the hammock, not realizing that Winter was sitting out in the yard, and he smiled at her, "You should have watched it with us! It's the funniest movie!" 

"Next time! I just wanted to sit out here and enjoy nature for a bit!" 

Eddie smiled more, "I don't blame you!" He began walking to the side gate, "Anyway, I should get to bed!" 

"Thanks for coming to the party!" 

Eddie turned around and began to walk backwards as he smiled his adorable grin, "Like I would miss Henry's fiftieth..." He placed his hand on his heart and pointed at her, "Especially when you serve those amazing appetizers that you make!" 

Winter let out a little giggle, "Bye, Edz! See you tomorrow?" 

"YOU KNOW IT!" He yelled from the other side of the gate as he closed it. 

Winter smiled, and then looked back at her phone. 

As the screen door opened again, she saw Henry coming out. He walked over to the hammock and got in beside her, causing it to swing back and forth. 

"So, let me tell you about this amazing woman who threw me the best Birthday party ever..." Henry smiled, as he pulled her in for a kiss. 

"Wow... The best Birthday party ever, huh?" Winter giggled, "That's some big words for such a small backyard party." 

Henry smiled, "It was the best. Like I would want a big party anyways." 

Winter softly smiled, "So whatever Richie said to you didn't ruin it for you?" 

"No!" Henry said to her, "I wouldn't let that ruin my day. He's going through something right now, so it must be pretty shitty. If the kids weren't listening to their music on blast, though, I may have punched him out," he added a laugh. 

"Where are they right now?" 

"They're in the basement watching a movie. They watched a bit of the movie with Eddie and me, but I don't think they were into it, so they started their own movie in the basement." 

"And you liked the basketball that Edz and me got you?" she smiled. 

"Oh, my God!" Henry smiled, "It's the best gift I ever got!" He looked at her, "How much was it?" 

Winter began to kiss his lips to avoid the question. 

In-between kisses, she said, "Don't worry about it." After she kissed him, she smiled, "Do you think we're safe out here from the kids for a little while?" 

Henry laughed, as he got on top of her, "Oh yeah! They're totally into the movie they're watching downstairs." 

That night, on the hammock, Henry and Winter made love. 


End file.
